url
stringlengths 29
145
| text
stringlengths 77
128k
|
|---|---|
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17978121 | The rivals for Serbia's presidency, liberal incumbent Boris Tadic and ex-nationalist Tomislav Nikolic, will face each other in a run-off on 20 May.
Mr Tadic polled around 26%, the latest estimates say, while Mr Nikolic was around one percentage point behind.
Serbia won EU candidate status in March and although both men say they back membership, Mr Nikolic strongly opposed the step some years ago.
The candidates' political parties were also very close in parliamentary polls.
Mr Nikolic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) appeared to be narrowly ahead of Mr Tadic's Democratic Party (DS).
But final results for the parliamentary elections will not be released until Thursday.
The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Belgrade says that the first surprise of the election was the strong showing of the Socialists, led by Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, who gained around 16% of the vote.
That would put them in with a strong chance of joining a coalition with Mr Dacic as potential prime minister, he says.
The governing Democratic Party have been punished by an electorate who blame them for doing too little to improve their standard of living.
The Democrats have been in power for 12 years, since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic and his Socialist Party.
The Socialists bounced back in this election, almost doubling their vote to play the role of kingmaker in the next government - "we have risen from the ashes", said their leader, Ivica Dacic, who is now widely tipped for the post of prime minister.
Most parties favour EU membership. The old split between pro-European and pro-Russian parties, is over.
The Socialists were founded in the 1990s by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was put on trial for genocide at The Hague, but they are now seen as pro-EU and were part of the outgoing coalition government.
Another surprise is the relatively poor showing of the nationalist Serbian Radical Party who were allies of Slobodan Milosevic during the conflict in Kosovo in 1999.
Mr Tadic, who has been in power since 2004, will face Mr Nikolic in a run-off vote for the third time running, having beaten him on the two previous occasions.
He stepped down as president last month, forcing an early presidential election alongside the parliamentary vote.
The campaign was dominated by questions over the future of the Serbian economy with unemployment at 24% and a foreign debt of 24bn euros (£19.5bn; $31.5bn).
Because of the economic difficulties, Mr Nikolic had been expected to perform better than Mr Tadic and his party in both votes.
The first round of the presidential election featured 12 candidates.
Mr Tadic, 54, was a key player in Serbia's talks with the EU and said that his party's continuation in power was necessary for Serbia's future development and stability. He also promised reform and better living standards for Serbs.
Mr Nikolic once said he would rather see Serbia ally itself with Russia than join the EU but has softened his rhetoric in recent years. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8079018.stm | Dance troupe Diversity, winners of TV's Britain's Got Talent, are to appear in a new British film to be shot in 3D.
Fellow competitors Flawless will also appear in the film, as will last year's winner George Sampson.
The film, Street Dance, follows a dance crew in training for the Street Dance Championships who are forced to work alongside ballet dancers.
Distributed by Vertigo Films, it has been described as "the first British movie to be shot in 3D".
Producer James Richardson signed both Diversity and Flawless to the film after seeing them perform last July at the UK Street Dance Championships.
"I immediately started talking to them about being in the film since I felt they represented the very best of British street dance," he said in a statement.
Casting is still in progress for the film, which will begin shooting in the UK in August under the direction of award-winning video makers Max and Darnia.
Diversity were the surprise victors of Saturday's Britain's Got Talent final, beating hotly-tipped singer Susan Boyle into second place.
The 11-strong Essex-based troupe includes three sets of brothers and has members aged from 13 to 25.
London-based Flawless also competed in Saturday's final but did not make it into the final three. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25025078 | Dramatic moments here at the climate talks in Warsaw.
A Polish Government reshuffle saw their environment minister get the order of the boot. Poor Marcin Korolec has also been chairing this Conference of the Parties (Cop) with mixed success.
But he didn't lose his post because of the glum state of the negotiations - ironically his political bosses weren't sure he was the right man to handle shale gas in Poland.
And I thought fracking was supposed to create jobs?
The conference was also "rocked" by a walkout by delegates from developing countries. They were angry about the crucial issue of loss and damage and during a very late session, they walked out, raging with indignity into the cold Polish night.
By other accounts, several negotiators did actually walk out, but only to catch the last bus home!
This group of countries, called G77 plus China, in the language of the Cop, were deeply incensed by the richer countries simply refusing to countenance a new arrangement on loss and damage that would see them legally on the hook for the impacts of rising temperatures.
In the words of EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard this concept is a red line for Europe.
"We cannot have a system where there will be automatic compensation whenever severe weather events are happening one place or the other around the planet, you will understand why that is not feasible," she said.
But it wasn't all fractious infighting about mind numbing details.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon put on a crash helmet, not to survive the brickbats of angry negotiators, but to steer a bamboo bicycle around the conference centre.
Mr Ban was highlighting a project called Momentum for Change, that includes the Ghanaian bamboo bicycle project.
This company made 800 of these bikes last year, which not only benefits the environment by using bamboo but gives jobs and crucial transport to villagers in many parts of Africa.
Mr Ban had opened the ministerial segment of this meeting yesterday to the strains of some noodly jazz laid on by the Polish government.
In a surreal scene, a Ukranian artist drew powerful climate-related pictures in sand that were projected on the big screen - some wag suggested that given the attachment of Poland to anthracite, perhaps she should have used coal dust instead.
Mr Ban tried to gee up the participants by telling them he had previously been to a successful climate meeting in Poland in 2008.
Perhaps it wasn't the right image. The car crash that became the Copenhagen Cop in 2009, had really started to unravel the year before in Poznan.
Many fear that Warsaw will foreshadow similar problems when the climate bus pulls into Paris in 2015.
Well at least Mr Ban didn't tell us, for the umpteenth time, that the heat is on. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43064290 | A link between highly processed foods and cancer has been suggested by French researchers.
They classified foods including cakes, chicken nuggets and mass-produced bread as "ultra-processed".
A study of 105,000 people hinted the more of such foods people ate, the greater their risk of cancer.
A lot of caution is being expressed about the study, but experts said a healthy diet is best.
Diet is already known to affect the risk of cancer.
Being overweight is the biggest preventable cause of the disease after smoking and the World Health Organization says processed meat does slightly increase the risk of cancer.
But what about ultra-processed foods?
The team - at Universite Sorbonne Paris Cite - used food surveys on two days to work out what people were eating.
Those on the study, who were mostly middle-aged women, were followed for an average of five years.
The results, in the British Medical Journal, showed that if the proportion of ultra-processed food in the diet increased by 10%, then the number of cancers detected increased by 12%.
The researchers concluded: "These results suggest that the rapidly increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods may drive an increasing burden of cancer in the next decades."
But they said the findings need to "be confirmed by other large-scale" studies and research was needed to establish what could be behind the link.
This study is far from the definitive take on ultra-processed foods and cancer.
It cannot say ultra-processed foods are a cause of cancer.
There are also factors that muddy the waters as people who ate a lot of ultra-processed foods had other behaviours that have been linked to cancer.
They were much more likely to smoke, were less active, consumed more calories overall and were more likely to be taking the oral contraceptive.
While the researchers did adjust their analysis for this they say their impact "cannot be entirely excluded".
Prof Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK's prevention expert, said: "It's already known that eating a lot of these foods can lead to weight gain, and being overweight or obese can also increase your risk of cancer, so it's hard to disentangle the effects of diet and weight."
Overall she said the study was a "warning signal to us to have a healthy diet" but people should not worry about eating a bit of processed food "here and there" as long as they were getting plenty of fruit, vegetables and fibre.
Dr Ian Johnson, from the Quadram Institute in Norwich, said the study had "identified some rather weak associations".
Image caption Does the type of bread you eat make a difference to your cancer risk?
But he criticised the vagueness of the term ultra-processed.
He said: "The problem is that the definition of ultra-processed foods they have used is so broad and poorly defined that it is impossible to decide exactly what, if any, causal connections have been observed."
For Prof Tom Sanders at King's College London, the definition of ultra-processed foods throws up too many quirks.
He said mass-produced bread would be classed as ultra-processed, but a home-made loaf or bread from a posh local bakery would not.
"This classification seems arbitrary and based on the premise that food produced industrially has a different nutritional and chemical composition from that produced in the home or by artisans. This is not the case," Prof Sanders said.
Even the accompanying commentary in the British Medical Journal warned against jumping to conclusions.
Martin Lajous and Adriana Monge from the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, warned "we are a long way from understanding the full implications of food processing for health and well-being".
They said the study was simply "an initial insight". |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3716613.stm | The Daily Mirror has said sorry to the regiment it accused of torture after publishing fake pictures of UK troops abusing Iraqi prisoners.
The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR) accepted the apology but called for the newspaper to help root out those responsible for the photos.
Following the sacking of editor Piers Morgan, the tabloid also apologised to readers and to UK armed forces in Iraq.
The QLR said the Mirror had endangered British troops by running the pictures.
"They should, as they've promised, help us out with trying to root out whoever was responsible for producing these faked-up photographs," said Brigadier Geoff Sheldon.
"Clearly if it turns out they were members of our regiment we do will do everything we can to deal with these people who have played a disgraceful part in this."
One photograph showed a soldier urinating on a hooded man while in another the hooded man is being hit with a rifle in the groin.
In Saturday's edition, the Daily Mirror admits the photographs were fakes but says they "were printed in good faith".
It continues: "We absolutely believed they were what we were told they were, otherwise we would never have printed them."
An inquiry by the Royal Military Police (RMP) had said the truck shown in the photographs was never in Iraq, and on Friday the QLR demonstrated to reporters aspects of uniform and equipment which it said proved the photographs were false.
Mr Morgan had refused to resign saying "We published the truth", but the newspaper now says the pictures were part of a "calculated and malicious hoax".
The BBC's Nicholas Witchell said it appeared Piers Morgan remained "unrepentant" right to the end.
"According to one report Mr Morgan refused the demand to apologise, was sacked and immediately escorted from the building," he said.
The former editor will be replaced on a temporary basis by his deputy, Des Kelly.
Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence have declined to comment on Mr Morgan's departure, but press reports have said that military chiefs were privately celebrating.
Earlier Colonel David Black, an ex-QLR commanding officer, had pressed for Mr Morgan's departure.
He said: "It's time that the ego of one editor is measured against the life of the soldier."
An RMP investigation into alleged abuse by British soldiers of Iraqis is still continuing.
One of the Mirror's informants - Soldier C - said there had been abuse in Iraq.
The Territorial Army soldier has been questioned by Royal Military Police after talking about his claims to the newspaper.
And on ITV's Tonight With Trevor McDonald on Friday he said: "It did go on, it wasn't all the army, it wasn't systematic but it did happen."
In Saturday's edition the Daily Mirror is also still refusing to leave the issue alone.
It said: "Four others have told similar stories. No evidence been produced to disprove what they said."
The Sun newspaper had offered a £50,000 reward for "information about the fake Mirror photos" but withdrew the offer following the sacking of Mr Morgan.
"Today's front page said it all" |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/4483924.stm | Manchester United and their supporters paid an emotional tribute on Wednesday to Old Trafford legend George Best, who died last Friday.
Fans in every seat held up a poster of Best ahead of the Carling Cup game with West Brom, who were also the opponents when Best made his debut for the club.
Current United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and Baggies boss Bryan Robson, a Man Utd legend, carried wreaths out.
And both sets of supporters impeccably observed a minute's silence.
Best's son Calum was introduced to the crowd during an emotional ceremony.
"It was the greatest tribute we could give. It was a fantastic night," said Ferguson.
"I didn't expect anything different at Manchester United," added Robson. "They are a club that is excellent with ex-players.
"It was a fitting occasion and a great send-off. George Best was one of the best players this world has ever seen and it was fitting for him."
Best's team-mates from United's 1968 European Cup final-winning team lined up on the pitch ahead of the kick-off.
They were joined by members of the West Bromwich Albion side against whom Best made his debut in 1963.
Before the game thousands of supporters visited the makeshift shrine outside Old Trafford, which has been adorned with scarves, replica shirts and cards.
United legend Best died last week at the age of 59 after organ failure. He had for years struggled with alcoholism.
Best's funeral takes place at Stormont in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 3 December, and United have reached agreement with the BBC to screen the event live in Manchester's Exchange Square at lunchtime.
Discussion is still to begin in earnest over a lasting tribute to Best, with a statue the most likely option. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-12224312 | Healthy people may derive no benefit from taking cholesterol-lowering statins, according to a review of previous studies.
The report, published in The Cochrane Library, concluded that statins reduced death rates.
But it said there was no evidence to justify their use in people at low risk of developing heart disease.
The British Heart Foundation said the benefits of prescribing statins for those people was unclear.
Millions of people in the UK take statins, which reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke by lowering the level of cholesterol in the blood.
They are available both on prescription and in low doses over the counter in pharmacies.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends statins for people who have a 20% or greater chance of developing cardiovascular disease within ten years.
Previous studies have suggested that statins may benefit the healthy, but the drugs have also been linked to a range of side effects including liver problems, kidney failure and muscle weakness.
This study, which reviewed the evidence from 14 trials, said there was insufficient evidence that statins should be taken by those not in at risk groups.
Fiona Taylor, from the Cochrane Heart Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "This review highlights important shortcomings in our knowledge about the effects of statins in people who have no previous history of cardiovascular disease.
"The decision to prescribe statins in this group should not be taken lightly."
Amy Thompson, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "This systematic review echoes what we already know - that statins have huge benefits for people with heart and circulatory disease, or those who are high risk as they help to reduce the risk of heart disease including heart attacks.
"It is still unclear whether statins provide any real benefits for people without heart and circulatory disease and who are at low risk of developing it.
"There is little to suggest that statins should be prescribed routinely for these people. However, it is good practice for health professionals to consider each person individually." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46552147 | The European Central Bank has confirmed it is ending its huge net asset purchase programme to stimulate the eurozone economy this month.
The ECB has stopped its bond-buying scheme, worth €30bn a month, despite a recent slowdown in the bloc's recovery.
The move, first announced in June, is a big step towards unwinding the policies brought in to stabilise the eurozone in the wake of the financial crisis.
The ECB said it was keeping its main interest rate on hold at zero per cent.
The ECB began its asset purchase programme in 2015, years after the UK and US took similar action to shore up their economies.
The bank argues this has countered deflation and staved off a deeper economic crisis, but it has long signalled it would gradually wind the programme down.
It's official: the ECB has confirmed it will cease its crisis bail-out programme, quantitative easing. It was last of the major central banks to embark on the scheme of pumping funds into the economy via bonds in 2009.
Since then it has injected more than €2tn, intended to be used by financial institutions to boost credit, and so demand across the economy.
QE was a controversial project, not least with European politicians. And it is for political, rather than economic, reasons that it's been ceased: growth across the eurozone is lukewarm.
The ECB isn't removing its support altogether; it will reinvest existing QE money once bonds mature.
But economists question if the ECB may soon have to take further action to stimulate growth and, with interest rates at rock bottom, what shape that will take. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8703010.stm | Parents spend on average 49 minutes a day together with their children, according to a new survey.
Of 3,000 parents surveyed 68% cited money as a barrier to spending more time with their family.
The study, which also asked the opinions of 1,000 children, was conducted ahead of National Family Week next week.
Of the children surveyed 66% were happy to spend time with their family at home rather than going out.
The study said: "Pound sign parents are blaming money for being the biggest obstacle to positive family life with 36% citing it as having a negative impact on family time."
It says this is "rubbing off" on their children as more than a quarter of eight to 15-year-olds in the survey said money was the most important thing to them, putting cash in front of their health, education, sport or music.
Of those girls who responded to the survey, 42% said they wished they could spend more time with their father but only 6% said they wished they could spend more time with mother.
Eileen Hayes, parenting adviser at the children's charity the NSPCC, said: "Childhood memories are made of those priceless moments when you remember being valued by proud parents or listened to knowing you were cared for.
"This is far more important for a child's happiness than a slick new game or expensive day out.
"Parents can do more for their children's healthy development by focusing on the time they spend with them doing everyday things than the money they spend."
Next week's National Family Week is an annual event aimed at highlighting the importance of families spending time together.
Charities including the NSPCC and the National Literacy Trust support the initiative, which will see 5,000 events organised to encourage families to get together between 31 May and 6 June.
The research is based on a survey of parents and children conducted between 7 and 12 April. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-42307083 | A driver who only cleared a small gap in their snow-covered windscreen before setting off has been reported for careless driving, police say.
Essex Police officers stopped the driver in Harlow just before midnight, Insp Matt Allsop said in a tweet.
Parts of Essex saw up to 10cm (4in) of snow on Sunday, leading to road closures and travel problems across the county.
On Monday, more than 50 Essex schools were closed due to the weather. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/moneybox/7537163.stm | If you are lucky enough to have the money, is investing in art a good idea during the credit crunch?
That is what financial guru Alvin Hall sets out to explore in this week's programme.
The renowned art market observer, Godfrey Barker said that in the art world pictures are still "singing and dancing".
Alvin asks art and investment experts in the UK and in the US if the art market can maintain its current strength through the credit crunch.
And though a picture may be worth a thousand words, what makes it worth thousands or even millions of pounds?
Alvin Hall's World of Money: Art was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday 2 August at 1204 BST.
A longer version of the programme was broadcast on Monday 4 August at 1502 BST. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40784426 | Anthony Scaramucci fired: What else happens in 10 days?
What can happen in 10 days? Many things, including being hired and then fired as White House communications director.
It was quite a week for Anthony Scaramucci. Faster than his rise and fall was social media reaction to his sacking.
#Scaramucci quickly became a trending topic on Twitter worldwide - and here's what some had to say.
First, what lasts more than 10 days?
Remember what he said about deleting old tweets because "past views evolved"? |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-lancashire-45426437/blackpool-zoo-elephant-pair-arrive-at-new-home | Two Asian elephants have arrived at their new home in Blackpool after a meticulously-planned journey.
The mother and daughter were put in a crate on a transporter and driven up the motorway from Twycross Zoo to Blackpool Zoo.
Noorjahan and Esha have been reunited with two other members of their herd at Blackpool's elephant enclosure. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21095012 | More than 150 police officers have been arrested in northern Mexico on suspicion of having links with organised crime.
The director of public security in Gomez Palacio and his counterpart in the city of Lerdo were also detained.
Soldiers cordoned off the police stations of the two cities in simultaneous raids.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has made the fight against corruption one of his government's priorities.
Buses took those detained to the state capital for interrogation.
Durango state Prosecutor Sonia Yadira de la Garza Fragoso said the raid followed a long investigation.
She said the officers detained had had their duty weapons taken off them, so that they could be sent for testing to determine if they had been used in crimes committed in the state.
The military has been left in charge of security in the two cities, while the police officers continue to be investigated.
Corruption within Mexico's police force, especially the municipal police, is rife, with officers often offered money or threatened by the country's powerful drug gangs to work for them and tip them off about upcoming raids.
In an effort to tackle corruption within the police, President Pena Nieto last month announced the creation of a new national force.
He said it would be modelled on European-style gendarmeries, with the focus on basic law enforcement duties. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3514638.stm | Shortages in key protective kit would have meant "severe" consequences if UK troops had come under chemical attack in the Iraq war, say MPs.
The Commons defence committee says the Iraq operation was a military success.
But troops had to cope with "real difficulties" caused by hurried deployment and inadequate supplies.
A year on from the start of the war, a new BBC poll suggests 48% of Britons now think military action was right, with 43% opposed and 9% undecided.
The ICM survey for BBC Two's Newsnight also suggests that 29% of people think Tony Blair told the truth about weapons of mass destruction.
But 40% of those interviewed said he exaggerated but did not lie, and 22% said he lied about the weapons threat.
The committee's new report on the lessons of the conflict criticises ministers for a "misjudgement" in failing to plan enough before the war for rebuilding Iraq for fear of making the conflict seem inevitable.
It also suggests the Department for International Development's (DFID) role in post-war planning was constrained because of ex-cabinet minister Clare Short's attitude towards possible military action.
Ms Short responded on Thursday by saying that criticism was "completely untrue" and is angry the MPs never put the claim to her.
"I really am surprised by the slovenliness of it and I really think it casts doubt on the quality of the committee," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
In the early days after the conflict, argue the MPs, it was a mistake not to have protected key buildings and infrastructure other than oil wells as a priority.
And the "potential goodwill of the Iraqi people was squandered" by not being able to establish troops on the ground quickly enough to prevent lawlessness after removing Saddam Hussein, they claim.
Failure to provide enough forces to guard munitions dumps also "cost Iraqi civilian lives".
Kit shortages have caused controversy for Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, especially over the death of Sergeant Steve Roberts days after he handed his enhanced flak jacket to other troops.
The MPs say enhanced body armour is another example of shortages in critical equipment caused by problems in supply and tracking of equipment.
And they find it "alarming" that a full system to track equipment once it is out in the war zone will not be running for another five years.
The committee says there were "serious shortcomings" in the supply of nuclear, biological and chemical protection equipment.
Ideally, troops should have been given four protective suits each but instead had only one, although the Ministry of Defence judged that enough.
Combopens, used for inoculations in the event of a gas attack, were also so scarce they had to moved around in Iraq to keep up with troops' needs.
The MPs say: "Had the Iraqis used chemical weapons systematically, as employed in the Iran-Iraq war, the operational consequences would have been severe.
"The lack of armoured vehicle filters seems to us to be a matter of the utmost seriousness."
The report also condemns as "unacceptable" that two weeks after fighting began 60% of extra desert clothing and boots had still not arrived.
It also says the MoD has to establish the scale of problems with ammunition supplies and investigate specific cases, such as the six military policemen killed by a mob in Iraq.
Committee chairman Bruce George said: "The fact that this operation was a notable military success should not blind us to the very real difficulties which our armed forces had to cope with in terms of hurried deployment, inadequate supplies and a lack of time for proper in-theatre training."
Former Desert Rats Lance Corporal Ian Stevens told BBC Radio Five Live he experienced clothing, breathing kit and food shortages in Iraq.
"We didn't have enough preparation, we didn't have enough equipment," he said.
A spokesman told BBC News Online the MoD welcomed the MPs' report, and a formal response would be issued once the recommendations were examined.
He said clothing shortages had been addressed, troops had enough gas canisters to guard against chemical attack, and catering provision was shared with the US army.
But Conservative shadow defence spokesman Nicholas Soames said political indecision had caused delays on kit orders.
"It is disgraceful that commanders were forced to take avoidable risks in putting their men into action," he said.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Paul Keetch branded the chemical protection shortages "truly shameful".
"With a force massing in the Gulf, it is ridiculous for the MoD to claim that post-war planning was hindered by a desire to respect diplomacy at the United Nations," he added.
One Year On Iraq - A Newsnight Special was screened on Tuesday at 2100 GMT on BBC Two.
John Churchill, Duke of Malborough, was able to in the 18th Century ensure that his men were fully equipped for their march to Blenheim, even down to the provision of spare boots. Yet every major war since, Britain has put into battle inadequately equipped armies, and suffered the consequences. That we won, in the end, has more to do with the bravery of the men who fought.
Could it be that the reason there was no urgency on getting adequate supplies of NBC gear to the front, was that Tony and his mates knew that there was no chemical threat because Saddam didn't actually have any WMDs?
I am a serving soldier who deployed to both Gulf wars. Therefore I have experienced the significant improvements in personal kit and war-fighting equipment over the last 13 years. Politicians will, understandably, always delay until the last possible moment the political authorisation for the committal of UK forces to conflict, which despite the best contingency plans, results in rushed and therefore flawed deployments. War will always contain an element of disorganisation and chaos, plans will always require changing at the last minute, resulting in the mislocation of slow-moving or static logistical stocks and supplies. We are getting better, and yes, there is room for improvement, but you cannot compare a military operation of the complexity of Op TELIC with running a supermarket! The geographical spread, fluidity and joint/coalition-nature of modern operations make asset tracking an incredibly complex operation. Add to that harsh environmental factors, human error and the influence of the enemy and it is amazing that the logistical supply chain from manufacturer/home base to front line functions at all.
I have a son who is a front-line pilot, flying missions in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I am appalled to hear his stories of lack of basic kit for all the services. On the news at the time it was interesting to note the all the rear echelon officers and troops, hundreds of miles from any combat, had desert combat clothes while the troops at the sharp end were in NATO green. Our forces did so well, the government is shortly going to cut the defence budget even more. Already overstretched armed forces will be expected to make do, with far less. It is time that Hoon did the honourable thing and resigned.
Having served in Desert Storm 1 and various other theatres, this comes as no shock. On balance I understand why we don't have the equipment sat on shelves waiting for possible deployments due to shelf life issues; but it does astound me that in this day-in-age we cannot get a better stock control/ ordering / rotation system in place.
Let's face it we were always going to go to war, or if not then we would have certainly have to have gone for peacekeeping duties post-conflict, so why weren't the orders placed? Gordon Brown and the chancellery are not shy at taking money away from the taxpayers, but do seem reticent at signing any "cheques" for major government outgoings.
I was in Kuwait/Iraq last year and although 'sharp', didn't get issued desert boots and ballistic plates for my body armour until after being in Iraq for a week or so, and didn't get desert combats until after the war had ended. It says something of what the people in government think you're worth when you are stood around in green European coloured combat kit surrounded with all that sand and ballistic protection given as an after thought. Why do we bother?
As an ex-reservist I think I have the solution. If memory serves correct I believe that there are 4 civil servants to every sailor in the RN and no doubt a similar ratio applies to both the Army and RAF. So, firstly reduce the civil servants by at least 25%, as although we cut our armed forces we do not appear to reduce the number of associated civil servants. There should therefore be savings for the right amount of kit here. Secondly next time we have to deploy our forces to a war zone take another 25% of the remaining civil servants with them, preferably led by Geoff Hoon. I am sure this move would ensure all the kit is in right place at the right time !
I am an ex soldier who saw active duty in Gulf War (1) with many friends still serving. A number of these served during the initial fighting in Iraq during Gulf War (2) - Return of the Bush. Many of the issues experienced during the first conflict have been re-experienced during the second. In 1991 Britain went to wage a desert war with next to no desert equipment as it had sold most of it to the country it was about to wage war upon. Troops were stuck in the desert wearing tropical combats whilst all around them were reporters wearing desert equipment. The second time around and no lessons seem to have been learned. Our troops are still under-equipped only this time the British Government added the obstacle of not bothering to ensure an adequate food supply line either, so that many troops were on half rations. The government might have changed hands, but evidently the storekeeper is still the same.
There have always been shortages of kit - even 25 years ago when I served, but I don't think ever to this extent. NBC items must always be in date and available, ditto body armour - you cannot deal with every situation from the fighting compartment of an armoured vehicle. The MOD seems to be trying to apply "Just In Time" supply philosophies from industry to a theatre of war and there is no comparison. As the buck stops with him I really do think Geoff Hoon should consider his position.
I find it amazing that when my local branch of Tesco's has an advanced computer system that can track every purchase down to the last tin of beans that the MoD is STILL 5 years away from being able to adequately computerise its' own logistics train.
It was not only kit that was in short supply. One tank regiment found itself having to refuel from the Americans who only had aviation fuel for our tanks to use. The unit went all through the campaign on avgas. Suitable camouflage nets were in such short supply that they had to be purchased from Israel. The Israeli nets have a certain heat reflecting property. Up-armour kits for tracked recce vehicles were also sourced from Israel. Also note that we are hearing from the Americans that they were also short of various bits of kit. Not all their troops had desert combats etc. They too ran short of rations and water as they advanced far ahead of their logistics trains.
Kit shortages are nothing new. As a TA soldier I went to Sandhurst for Officer Selection. On the final ex I carried the GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun), 5 (yes, five) rounds and a football rattle - for when I ran out of ammo. After 15 years in the TA I remain convinced that the only reason we win wars is that for some reason British Squaddies can dig themselves out of the mess they have been dropped in faster than anyone else.
How can ministers be surprised when they instigated the cutbacks?
I served for 19 years in the armed forces. From day one I had to supplement my own kit at my expense and this never changed throughout. Decent boots, water proofs, additional uniform, navigation equipment, webbing, etc. The only thing not purchased was a decent weapon. How can ministers be surprised when they instigated the cutbacks? The main problem is that our services are highly professional and adaptable and as such always perform well. As a result the powers that be always think there is scope for more savings to be made. Troops are going from one operational tour to another without rest. Equipment stocks are not being replaced and new equipment being brought into service is delayed or cancelled to save money. When I left the Regulars and joined the TA kit shortages were even worse. We weren't even issued with a complete set of combats.
I used to be in the forces, so am acutely aware of the perennial problem of lack of kit even for operational deployments. There was an all too accurate comment that did the rounds: "As a cost reduction measure, in future the military will only procure three sizes of uniform. These sizes will be designated: "Too Big", "Too Small" and "Out of Stock"
The military have always had kit shortages even from my days in the TA. However in this instance they do not appear to have learnt any lessons from the first Gulf War nor have they planned properly for the last knowing in advance that action was likely. The most damming part is the failure of the basic equipment, boots, rifles, clothing, NBC kit and body armour - it appears that the MoD has a low regard for the troops own safety.
It seems absolutely bonkers that time and time again, British Troops are sent into hostile situations without adequate protection. From WW11 when the tanks were not up to the job, through to Falklands when the Anti Aircraft systems and boots were inadequate, and now to Desert Storm (1) - tank filters - remember them? and inadequate non-operating field radios and Desert Storm (2) - insufficient body armour available. Do the politicians who deal with allocation of funds and budgets reckon that Army NCOs are there purely to bail them out by offering superior combat training to soldiers? How difficult is it to work out that if here are 5,000 men in the field, they need 5,000 weapons, 5,000 pairs of boots and 5,000 sets of body armour - or is it me?
"One of the biggest problems was tracking the sheer volume of equipment" |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2065209.stm | BBC NEWS | UK | Bargepole: Touching the bog standard?
Bargepole: Touching the bog standard?
bargepole n, the thing with which one wouldn't touch something deeply unpleasant.
SUCH AS: some state secondary schools, according to Estelle Morris, Education Secretary. Quoth she: "I know that all secondary schools are not identical. As a teacher, I go into some schools and think 'I would like to work here' but there are some I wouldn't touch with a bargepole."
AKA: bog standard comprehensives, which Tony Blair's spokesman Alistair Campbell said (before the 2001 general election) would be ditched if the party won a second term.
NOT AKA: David Blunkett, then education secretary, disowned the phrase, possibly because teachers working in "failing" schools were annoyed. "I don't use or recognise the term 'bog standard'," he said.
STREET USAGE: Ali G, asked which woman he wouldn't touch with a bargepole, said: "Dat expresshun usually describes when you don't fancy someone - but when I touch someone wiv a bargepole, it mean da opposite."
IBID: Bargepole on education: "Let's all agree to say: to hell with the common children. To hell with the idea of a true meritocratic elite. To hell with trying to distinguish between randomness and fairness, between equality of opportunity and equality of outcome. Let's all just accept that we've buggered things up, that we can do nothing about it, that this is Britain 2000 and there is no possibility of starting again, and then sit back with our mouths open to read about Posh Spice and concentrate on cultivating our forelocks."
Unpleasant items which you would not touch with any implement at all (and other comments) can be submitted to the E-cyclopedia by clicking here. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28207945 | Would you get a tattoo of a company logo?
Do you love a company so much that you would get a tattoo of its logo? And what would that say about you and the firm in question?
Chuck Runyon, the founder and boss of US gym chain Anytime Fitness, says he is very proud of the fact that more than 2,000 people around the world now have his firm's logo of a running man tattooed on their bodies.
The phenomenon started in 2004 when a company manager was the first to get the tattoo for a dare, but customers soon followed suit.
Today a constant stream of the gym's members continue to get the tattoo, and the business promises to reimburse everyone who sends in a photograph with an explanation as to why they got inked.
Typically this costs the company about $100 (£58) per person, but Mr Runyon, 45, says the financial incentive has nothing to do with why people get their body art.
"Hundreds and hundreds of people have told us why they got the tattoo, and it has never been about the money or the brand," he says.
"Instead the answers are always very, very personal. Many say they got the tattoo to mark the fact they had achieved something they never thought was possible, such as losing a considerable amount of weight, or feeling healthy."
Mr Runyon often gives the example of Susan Bock, a customer from Colorado. Anytime Fitness helped her lose 150 pounds (68kg).
Ms Bock, in her early 50s, says the firm gave her "her life back", and she got the tattoo to celebrate, according to Mr Runyon.
But as a company, does encouraging customers to get a tattoo of your logo affect the strength or value of your brand?
Independent brand consultant Rebecca Battman says it is a smart move.
"It is absolutely positive for any business if people feel such a strong affinity with its brand that they will indelibly mark their bodies - that is a pretty high level of commitment," she says.
"It demonstrates a real emotional commitment to a brand, and shows how much brands have come into different aspects of our lives - they are no longer just about a product or experience.
"And people now often feel strongly that they share the same fundamental beliefs or attitudes of a certain company."
Fellow brand expert Robert Jones, professor of branding at the University of East Anglia, agrees, saying that there is little risk to a firm's reputation if people start getting its logo tattooed, "because tattoos have changed from being something subculture to something mainstream and, within reason, respectable".
Prof Jones adds that companies instead get customers who are prepared to be free promoters of the brand, and that it helps firms to build a community around themselves.
Mr Runyon, who himself has a tattoo of the company logo, says that creating a strong affinity with its gym goers was a key aim of Anytime Fitness ever since he founded the business in Minnesota in 2002.
A veteran of the gym industry in the US, he explains that instead of focusing on impossible to achieve images of body perfection, he wanted to remove this intimidation.
So staff are reminded that most customers do not enjoy exercise, and should instead be more gently encouraged and supported to reach achievable goals.
Mr Runyon says that such an approach goes a long way to explain why so many Anytime Fitness customers get its logo tattooed - the company works hard to make them feel good about themselves, and that they belong to a caring community.
Such an approach has also of course helped to fuel the business's commercial success, along with allowing users to access the gym 24 hours a day, even when no staff are present.
As a result, it now has more than 2,400 franchised gyms across 19 countries.
Yet these days the company is far from alone in seeing customers get tattoos of its logo, particularly in the wider fitness and sports fields.
Another business that is seeing a growing number of people get its logo permanently marked on them is extreme obstacle course organiser Tough Mudder.
Founded by Will Dean in New York in 2010, its events are tremendously popular around the world, despite entrants having to swim through icy water, crawl though mud and dodge electric wires.
Tough Mudder claims that more than 3,000 people now have its logo tattooed on their bodies, something which Mr Dean says makes him proud and shows that Tough Mudder "very clearly stands for something".
"Life is a series of obstacles that have to be overcome, and Tough Mudder has very clear values to help people do that.
"We stand for things like fun, teamwork, camaraderie and challenge."
Benjamin Voyer, an associate professor at ESCP Europe Business School, says there are a number of reasons why more and more people are getting tattoos of brand names, such as showing togetherness with other enthusiasts, or boosting their own sense of self worth.
But what is the chance of someone getting a tattoo of a company name, and then going on to regret it a number of years down the line?
Prof Voyer warns that while tattoos are pretty permanent, brands can change or disappear altogether.
"As brands undergo identity changes, such as becoming less exclusive... consumers might be inclined to regret the permanent association they have created," he says.
He adds that brands can also go on to be involved in scandals, or simply no longer exist following a takeover.
"People have to ask themselves if they are still going to feel the same about a brand in 20 years' time." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5172890.stm | The mass of personal information on government databases must be protected or public trust will be damaged, ministers are being warned.
Information Commissioner Richard Thomas says getting details wrong or mixing them up has huge costs to the people concerned, government and businesses.
Details should not be shared just because technology allows it, he says.
His words come as ministers vowed to press ahead with the ID cards database, which has been called "unprecedented".
Mr Thomas, who is publishing his annual report, has previously warned of the need to avoid a "surveillance society" and is in charge of policing the data protection laws.
Experts estimate that information about the average working adult in the UK is stored on 700 databases.
They include information about people's health records, credit checks and household details.
"Never before has the threat of intrusion to people's privacy been such a risk," said Mr Thomas.
He said many databases were being used to good effect - such as systems for renewing car tax online rather than waiting in Post Office queues.
But there can be problems, such as when the Criminal Records' Bureau mistakenly labelled thousands of people as criminals.
Data protection laws have sometimes been blamed for causing problems in high profile cases - as happened in the Soham murder investigation.
But inquiries have said the real problem is often misunderstanding of the rules.
Mr Thomas told BBC News: "We don't want to go from saying you cannot do anything because of data protection to the other extreme where all information is shared from one database to another with more and more people having access to the information."
The handling of personal information ranks level with the health service among public concerns, according to research for the watchdog.
There were severe consequences if people if information on database was out-of-date, inaccurate, or given to the wrong people, he said.
He pointed to the case of a father investigated by social services after his young daughter said he had "bonked" her - it turned out he had hit her on the head with an inflatable hammer.
While social services had closed the file, police and health authority records were not updated and said the man had been suspected of child abuse.
"If somebody wrongly is associated with a criminal record their career can be seriously damaged," said Mr Thomas.
"If someone is wrongly associated with other sorts of behaviour then their families or relationships could be put at risk."
But government agencies and businesses would also suffer from mistakes, he said.
He pointed to how millions of pounds had been lost in tax credit fraud after misuse of thousands of employees identities.
Mr Thomas refused to comment on whether he thought confidence in the ID cards database would be torpedoed if there were problems with other databases.
"There is a general risk that if there is sloppy handling of personal information that will damage the organisation guilty of sloppy handling," he said.
He said he would be working to make sure the ID scheme, which is facing possible delay, "takes account of data protection concerns" as it is implemented.
Mr Thomas "questioned the sense" of the child index, a database being compiled of all children in England in the wake of the Victoria Climbie inquiry.
Having a register of all children considered to be at risk would be more proportionate, he said, promising to work with the government to build safeguards into the system. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-47875263 | Several of Wednesday's newspaper front pages lead with Brexit, ahead of an EU summit in Brussels later where Theresa May will make her case for a delay until 30 June.
"Will we ever escape EU clutches?" is the despairing headline on the front page of the Daily Express - alongside a photograph of the French President Emmanuel Macron embracing Mrs May warmly in Paris.
The i newspaper says EU leaders are set to rebuff Mrs May and insist on a long delay to Brexit, while the Guardian says the prime minister's hopes of leaving soon have been "dashed".
The Times hopes that EU leaders will take the risk of offering Britain a long delay - warning that the fallout from a chaotic no deal would be far worse that the destabilising effect of continued uncertainty.
The Daily Mail blames "inept" MPs for the "humiliating" prospect of "another year in limbo".
It says members of the political class have undermined Mrs May in her honest bid to secure an honourable Brexit and are guilty of hypocrisy and betrayal.
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph says many senior Tories believe a long Brexit extension will make Mrs May's tenure unsustainable. It says the party may change the rules to remove her if she doesn't resign.
In its editorial comment, the paper says that "rather than wait to be toppled" the prime minister should set out the timetable for her departure so that a replacement leader can be chosen as soon as possible".
The Telegraph and the Times report that firefighters in Devon and Somerset have trained as special constables and been given powers of arrest in an attempt to boost the number of police officers.
Seven have qualified under the pilot scheme and will be known as "community responders".
The Fire Brigades Union says it will erode public trust in the fire service.
But the local police commissioner says the responders will be a great addition to rural communities.
Meanwhile, 10 years after the expenses scandal, the Daily Mirror has been totting up how much MPs have made from selling homes that were partly-paid for by taxpayers.
It estimates that 160 of them shared profits of £42m - with some making £1m each.
Under parliamentary rules the MPs are allowed to keep the money, but the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Sir Alistair Graham, tells the paper they should repay any profit they made.
The Sun claims the government's own research suggests that its plan to ban adverts for junk food before 9pm will cut just two calories a day from children's diets - the equivalent of less than half a Smartie.
The paper accuses ministers of surrendering to "middle class public health zealots who spend their lives tut-tutting at working people's grub".
In another story, the Sun reports that Elvis Presley's mansion Graceland, could be dismantled and rebuilt in Japan, the Middle East or China because of a dispute about the future of the site.
Elvis Presley Enterprises, which operates the singer's home as a tourist attraction, is unhappy that Memphis City Council is refusing to pay for a new 6,000-seat indoor arena.
Its managing director says he's received generous offers to move the building abroad.
According to the Financial Times, Sir Paul McCartney has weighed into a row about funding for the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.
The former Beatle helped raise £18m to open the college on the site of his old school in 1996.
It has lost hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in state funding because of policy changes that critics say favour bigger institutions.
Sir Paul says the college is his "passion" and part of his legacy and he has called on the government to intervene.
Six months after the murder of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the Financial Times sees signs that banks and investors are prepared to draw a line under the killing.
News of his murder sparked international outrage at the time and business leaders boycotted a conference in Riyadh.
But the state-backed oil company, Saudi Aramco, is now poised to raise $12bn in its first international bond sale - after attracting $100bn dollars in orders.
And several papers report the birth in Sweden of the first baby to be delivered from a donated womb which was transplanted using robot-assisted keyhole surgery.
The new technique is said to be less dangerous for donor than traditional surgery. The womb came from the baby's grandmother. One surgeon tells the Telegraph that the delivery of such a special, longed-for child was "simply wonderful". |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-wales-politics-42284817/brexit-role-of-welsh-ports-recognised-by-pm-alun-cairns-says | Cairns: PM recognises role of Welsh ports Jump to media player Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns welcomes Theresa May's deal to take Brexit talks to the next stage, saying she recognises the importance of Welsh ports in trade with Ireland.
Jones hails 'open border with EU' Jump to media player Wales' First Minister Carwyn Jones welcomes Theresa May's Brexit deal which he claims amounts to an "open border with the EU" for the whole UK.
'Sufficient progress' to advance Brexit talks Jump to media player EU Commission says Brexit discussions can move on to the next phase, as "sufficient progress" has occurred.
EU president: 'Breaking up is hard' Jump to media player The president of the European Council has said more clarity is needed in how Britain sees its future relationship with the EU.
Ireland's leader welcomes Brexit progress Jump to media player Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar satisfied that conditions are in place for next phase of Brexit.
DUP: 'The entirety of the UK is leaving the EU' Jump to media player DUP leader Arlene Foster says substantive changes to proposed text for a deal with the EU were made.
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns has welcomed Theresa May's deal to take Brexit talks to the next stage, saying she recognises the importance of Welsh ports in trade with Ireland.
The prime minister has guaranteed there will no be "hard" border on land or sea, whatever the final UK-EU trade deal looks like.
Mr Cairns said he had supported the interests of Welsh ports at every opportunity. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4733893.stm | Atkins Nutritionals, the company behind the low-carb diet which swept the world and split medical opinion, has applied for bankruptcy protection in the US.
The firm was founded in 1989 by Dr Robert Atkins and promoted a diet that replaced carbohydrates such as bread and pasta with proteins like meat.
Demand for the Atkins diet has dipped amid questions about its safety and following the death of its founder.
Other firms also are offering similar products, eating into Atkins' sales.
A US bankruptcy court will hear the firm's Chapter 11 filing on Monday.
Chapter 11 in the US allows a company to keep trading, but gives it protection from creditors in the hope that it can work out a rescue plan and put its finances in order.
The company owes lenders close to $300m, according to court documents. It has secured funding of $25m to finance day-to-day operations.
President and chief executive Mark Rodriguez said Atkins has adjusted its structure "to accommodate a smaller business" and will promote its brands "more broadly for consumers who are concerned about heath and wellness".
After it leaves Chapter 11 protection, the company will focus on its nutrition bars and drinks, Mr Rodriguez said.
The Atkins diet was a global phenomenon that changed the way many people ate and spawned a whole range of low-carb food products in supermarkets and restaurants.
While cutting out carbohydrates proved a very successful way for many people to lose weight, medical experts said that following the diet plan for an extended period could have long-term negative effects on health.
They pointed to a scarcity of vegetables and fruit, and said that people should try to follow a more balanced diet.
Atkins has hit back by saying that its Atkins Nutritional Approach is a "lifetime nutritional philosophy".
The profitability of the diet was never in question, however, and large food firms including Unilever, Kraft and General Mills all brought out their own range of low-carb foods.
Atkins has seen its sales dwindle as a result and its UK operations went into administration earlier this year.
Atkins is majority owned by private equity firm Parthenon Capital, with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and the estate of Robert Atkins holding smaller stakes.
Company and diet founder Robert Atkins died in April 2003 from injuries he sustained in a fall. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/4112115.stm | An exhibition to mark the 130th anniversary of one of Oxfordshire's worst ever rail disasters has opened.
The Shipton-on-Cherwell derailment on Christmas Eve, 1874, left more than 30 passengers dead and 70 injured.
The doors have opened on the exhibition at the county council's records office, which features documents, photographs and eyewitness accounts.
Locals have contributed to the show after an appeal for loans made by archivists in the summer.
A framed sketch of the accident, thought to be from a local newspaper, and a piece of molten metal believed to be from one of the carriages will also be exhibited.
Chris Gilliam, archivist at the Oxfordshire County Council Record Office, said: "The display looks at the accident and the aftermath using original sources and focuses on the personal element of the tragedy.
"The testimonies of the people who took part in the coroner's inquest, for instance, make emotional and stunning reading."
The exhibition runs for the rest of this week, until Christmas Eve, and then again between 4 January and 26 February. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24600683 | Hammer horror star Sir Christopher Lee said it was a "very emotional moment" when he received his British Institute Fellowship from his friend Johnny Depp.
He tearfully accepted the award at the London Film Festival, saying: "I didn't know you were going to be here. I must try and pull myself together."
The prize for best film went to to Pawel Pawlikowski's Ida, about German occupation of Poland and the Holocaust.
Screenwriter Jonathan Asser won best British newcomer.
He took the accolade for his debut feature Starred Up, about the practice of placing violent young offenders prematurely in adult prison.
BFI fellow and film critic Philip French said of Ida that the jury was "deeply moved by a courageous film that handles, with subtlety and insight, a painfully controversial historical situation".
Sir Christopher, 91, who described receiving his award as "a great joy", is famed for his villainous portrayals of Bond bad guy Scaramanga and evil wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings.
He has amassed more than 250 screen credits, including The Wicker Man, The Man with the Golden Gun and more recently, several Tim Burton films including Sleepy Hollow, which starred Depp. He also played Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels.
Depp, who sneaked into the awards ceremony to surprise his friend, said it was his "great honour" to present the award to "a very great man", saying he had been "fascinated and inspired" by him.
"He's been a wonderful individual and over the years I've had the pleasure of working with him and it has been a childhood dream come true," he said.
"But as great as it is to work with him, that pleasure doesn't compare with getting to know him and being able to count him as a true friend.
"A national treasure and a genuine artist. I love ya!"
Sir Christopher responded by saying: "I can't thank you enough," in reference to Depp, who he had been told could not make the occasion as he was elsewhere.
He went on : "When I take a look back, and it's a long one, 67 years, at the characters I've played I get a truly strange feeling they were all played by somebody else, and not by me.
"And there are a few occasions when it has been the case I wish it had!"
He said of Depp: "He means an enormous amount to me. He is one of very few young actors on screen today who's truly a star.
"Everything he does has a meaning. He's a joy to work with, an actor's dream and certainly a director's dream. I could go on a long time but I'd probably embarrass him."
The festival presented the Sutherland Award, for the most original and imaginative film debut, to Anthony Chen, who directed Ilo Ilo, which explores the life and vulnerabilities of a modern affluent family in Singapore.
The Grierson award for the best documentary went to Paul-Julien Robert's My Fathers, My Mother and Me, a portrayal of life in Friedrichshof, the largest commune in Europe, which was founded in the 70s.
The film reveals the devastating emotional effects of life there on its residents, and jury president Kate Ogborn said the "disturbing film" raised "larger questions of power, parental responsibility and abuse".
The film festival closes later with the world premiere of Saving Mr Banks, a dramatisation of the making of 1964 movie Mary Poppins starring Emma Thompson as author PL Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.
Hanks appeared at Bafta's London headquarters on Saturday to give a Life in Pictures talk, during which he revealed some of the difficulties he faced playing "Uncle Walt" on screen.
"Walt Disney died of lung cancer; he smoked three packs a day," the two-time Oscar winner told host Francine Stock.
"But can we show him smoking in a major motion picture these days? No way in hell.
"It's this thing that has happened in movies - real people can't smoke. We literally had a negotiation over whether I could hold a lit cigarette in a scene."
In a wide-ranging discussion covering his 30-year film career, Hanks said his success was partly down to his not having "a bigger-than-life persona".
"I'm charming as hell, but I don't strike fear and I don't have a huge amount of mystery," he explained.
"You're not worried about me killing you, or stealing your daughter, or being some sort of criminal mastermind.
"I view myself as a guy that if I had been a good student, I could be a historian," he continued. "And if I had been good at science, I could be a doctor.
"I'm not good at any of those things so I'm an actor. These movies, these roles, they're always something that - if I was a little more accomplished - I could be that guy."
Hanks can currently be seen in cinemas in Captain Phillips, which opened the London Film Festival on 9 October. Saving Mr Banks is out in the UK on 29 November. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-23370598/detroit-files-for-bankruptcy-with-debts-of-15bn | Detroit files for bankruptcy Jump to media player The US city of Detroit in Michigan has become the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy, with debts of at least $15bn (£10bn).
Why America's talent is moving to Detroit Jump to media player Talented professionals and entrepreneurs are being encouraged to move to Motor City as part of a scheme called Challenge Detroit.
Detroit gets new financial manager Jump to media player An emergency financial manager with wide-ranging powers has been appointed for the troubled US city of Detroit, in the biggest state takeover for years.
Detroit's decline shown in new documentary Jump to media player The documentary Detropia paints a painful picture of a city that - despite some recovery - remains a shadow of its former self.
The US city of Detroit in Michigan has become the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy, with debts of at least $15bn (£10bn).
State-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr asked a federal judge to place the city into bankruptcy protection. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-12078967/pope-s-christmas-message-calls-for-middle-east-peace | Pope celebrates Christmas Eve Mass Jump to media player Pope Benedict XVI has begun celebrating an evening Mass at St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.
Then and now: Christmas on the front line Jump to media player A comparison of the way troops celebrated Christmas during World War I, with how the British Army is marking the occasion in Afghanistan in 2010.
Pope Benedict XVI has expressed his hope for an end to conflicts around the world in his traditional Christmas message from the Vatican.
Addressing a large crowd from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, he called for peaceful co-existence in the Middle East. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47665388 | A man previously charged with the attempted murder of his former partner in County Down has now been charged with her murder.
Joleen Corr, 27, was assaulted at her Downpatrick home in 2016 and spent the rest of her life needing 24-hour care.
She died in 2018, days after a landmark court ruling that said she should no longer be kept alive.
Michael O'Connor, 33, whose address was given as Maghaberry Prison, has previously denied attempted murder.
He was not present in Downpatrick Crown Court on Friday morning where it was confirmed that he will now face a murder charge.
The judge said: "This case has been delayed for a number of tragic reasons. It now needs to be moved on."
Michael O'Connor will be arraigned on the new murder charge next Friday. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-25938584/state-of-the-union-obama-vows-action-without-congress | Obama pledges action without Congress Jump to media player US President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address, announcing that he will bypass Congress to take action on economic inequality.
State of the Union: Full speech Jump to media player US President Barack Obama has vowed to make 2014 "a year of action" in his annual State of the Union address to Congress.
State of the Union: Is anyone listening? Jump to media player Ahead of President Obama's State of the Union address, the BBC's Katty Kay asks Washington insiders what he can achieve in 2014.
What does US think of income inequality? Jump to media player The US has one of the highest income gaps in the developed world and Americans recognise the problem, studies from the Pew Research Center suggest.
'I can't afford fresh food for son' Jump to media player President Obama's State of the Union address will focus on poverty - Rajini Vaidyanathan meets one Washington DC family struggling to make ends meet.
US President Barack Obama has promised to bypass Congress to tackle economic inequality in his annual State of the Union address.
Mr Obama pledged to "take steps without legislation" wherever possible to expand opportunities for families. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7615395.stm | Russia retained their Fed Cup title on after Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Spanish number one Anabel Medina Garrigues to give her team a 3-0 lead in the final.
The world number seven secured Russia's fourth Fed Cup crown in five years by winning the first match of the day 5-7 6-3 6-4 in two hours 39 minutes.
On Saturday, world number nine Vera Zvonareva beat Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-4 in the opening rubber of the tie.
Kuznetsova then dismissed 20-year-old Carla Suarez 6-3 6-1 in Madrid.
On Sunday, Kuznetsova had to dig in for her win as world number 29 Medina Garrigues tried to salvage some home pride on clay at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
But although she managed to capture the opening set, Kuznetsova stepped up a gear to polish off the tie.
"It was a tough match and I was never really close," said the Spaniard.
"She really stepped up on the big points (but) we can't criticise this team - we did very well to get to the final and we can be satisfied overall."
Russia later made in 4-0 as Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives and Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-1 in the doubles.
Russia's strength in depth - with six players in the WTA top 20 - proved decisive, with the champions able to retain the trophy in the absence of star names such as Maria Sharapova and Olympic champion Elena Dementieva. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/395540.stm | The final deadline for compensation claims by victims of the north Wales child abuse scandal has passed.
The first cases following the £10m inquiry into abuse in childrens' homes throughout north Wales are expected to be heard in the High Court at Chester in March next year.
A large number of claims have already been settled by the former Clwyd County Council and Gwynedd County Council in whose care many of the victims were when they were abused.
The batch processed to meet the deadline by lead solicitors Nelsons of Nottingham was the last.
Partner Billhar Uppal Singh says there has been a huge response from people wanting to make a claim.
"There have been 89-90 enquiries. There will be, in addition to the claims we are pursuing already, a further 60 claims," he said.
The report following last year's inquiry by High Court judge Sir Ronald Waterhouse will not be published before the Autumn.
The inquiry was commissioned by former Welsh secretary, William Hague, three years ago.
Sir Ronald and two colleagues finished taking evidence more than a year ago.
The delay in publication angered Steve Messham, chairman of the abuse survivors group, NORWAS.
He suggested it was Sir Ronald's determination to name alleged abusers and those who may have failed to tackle them which could be causing further delay.
He said there were now 70 former residents of childrens homes in North Wales who could not have their claims for damages heard until the report's publication and the delay meant that process could not start until next year.
The health and social services committee of the National Assembly has pencilled in November to discuss and respond to the report. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-47916307 | Medicinal cannabis that was confiscated from the mother of a girl with severe epilepsy is to be returned.
Emma Appleby was stopped at Southend Airport as she tried to bring a three-month supply of THC oil and cannabidiol (CBD) into the UK.
The drugs are now ready to be collected after nine-year-old Teagan was issued a prescription by specialist doctors.
The family travelled to the Netherlands after doctors in the UK refused to sign off Teagan's use of the drug.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: "Happy to say that Teagan Appleby's cannabis-based medicine... is ready to be collected.
Mrs Appleby, from Aylesham, Kent, said it was "really good news" and she would collect the drugs in London tomorrow.
She hopes it will give her daughter a "new lease of life".
Teagan has a rare chromosomal disorder called Isodicentric 15, as well as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, which causes her to experience up to 300 seizures a day.
Doctors have been able to issue prescriptions for medicinal cannabis since 2018, but Teagan was not given one.
Mrs Appleby used money raised through crowdfunding to visit a pharmacy in The Hague, Netherlands.
She said that it was "wrong that it's taken me to do this to get it" and vowed to continue "fighting" for other parents whose children are awaiting prescriptions for medicinal cannabis. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-lincolnshire-26354375/lincolnshire-daffodil-farmers-weather-woes | Weather headache for daffodil sales Jump to media player Flower growers in Lincolnshire fear the unpredictable weather will damage business.
Storms may have delayed blooms Jump to media player The National Trust says the stormy weather may have caused a reduced number of blooming flowers at some of its gardens in the south-west of England.
Row stops Europe Valentine's deliveries Jump to media player Millions of flowers that were destined for cities across Europe are unlikely to be delivered because of an ongoing border dispute between Bulgaria and Turkey.
Town says goodbye to flower festival Jump to media player People in Spalding have watched the last flower parade in the Lincolnshire town.
Fewer flowers in Trust's count Jump to media player Fewer flowers are out across the south west of England than at the same time last year, according to the National Trust.
'The Floral Jewels of the North' Jump to media player Hundreds of volunteers have decorated Durham Cathedral with flowers to coincide with the exhibition of the Lindisfarne Gospels.
Flower growers in Lincolnshire fear the unpredictable weather will damage business.
The county's daffodil crop, which accounts for nearly half of all UK grown daffodils, flowered at least two weeks early following unseasonably high temperatures.
Look North's business correspondent Paul Murphy reports. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/coventry_warwickshire/3845509.stm | A secondary school near Rugby has been destroyed in what firefighters suspect was an arson attack.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to the Avon Valley School in Newbold-on-Avon at around 0200 BST on Monday.
Its 900 pupils now have the week off while temporary buildings are put up.
The fire service said it was investigating the cause and stressed the school would still be standing if a sprinkler system had been fitted.
Head teacher Mark Braine said: "It's a terrible scene of devastation but Ofsted recently described the school as a special place to be.
"Our youngsters, parents, and teachers are second to none.
"It's not a building that makes a school. It's the people in it and we'll have temporary classrooms on site in a few days."
He added: "The spirit of the school is alive.... in due course a phoenix will arise on this site."
One pupil told BBC Midlands Today: "It's five years of memory gone down the drain and I just hope the people who did it aren't members of Avon Valley School."
The school will try to get years seven, eight, and nine back at school on a rotation basis.
Exams for year 11 were completed on Friday, while year 10 is away on work experience.
Firefighters believe the blaze started near the head teacher's study and quickly spread to the rest of the building.
Noel Harris from Warwickshire Fire Service said: "We tried to commit breathing apparatus crews to the premises with main jets to try to control the spread of the fire.
"But it was just impossible to do."
The school, which teaches pupils between the ages of 11 and 16, was due to have a new teaching block built this year.
"Amongst the debris the head teacher remains optimistic" |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24934768 | Media captionPrime Minister David Cameron: "There are legitimate accusations of war crimes"
David Cameron has promised to send a "tough message" to Sri Lanka's government over alleged war crimes after it warned him not to question ministers at the Commonwealth summit.
The UK prime minister, who has rejected calls to boycott the meeting in Colombo, said there had to be "proper inquiries" into events in 2009.
But Sri Lanka's government said he had no right to bring up the subject, as he had not been invited on that basis.
The conference begins on Friday.
The Prince of Wales, who celebrated his 65th birthday on Thursday, is representing the Queen at the biennial event.
Mr Cameron's attendance follows trade talks in New Delhi with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, who is among those avoiding the event.
Mr Singh is joined by the prime ministers of Canada and Mauritius, who are staying away in protest over allegations that the regime of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaska carried out war crimes at the end of a civil war with Tamil separatists four years ago.
The UN estimates that 40,000 civilians were killed in the last five months of the 26-year conflict, but the Sri Lankan authorities deny responsibility.
In an interview with the BBC's Nick Robinson, Mr Cameron said: "There are legitimate accusations of war crimes that need to be properly investigated.
"That is actually what the Sri Lankan government, in its own lessons learned and reconciliation exercise, found - there were more questions to be answered. But it hasn't effectively answered them. They need to be answered.
"We should be clear, this was an appalling civil war, a civil war in which obviously the Tamil Tigers, using suicide bombs and child soldiers, did some appalling things as well.
"But the end of the war, and this particular set of events where civilians seem to have been targeted - that needs to be properly investigated."
Tamil representatives and Labour, the British opposition party, urged Mr Cameron to join the boycott, but he argued he could achieve more by using his attendance to "shine a spotlight" on "some of the human rights issues".
But the Sri Lankans reacted angrily to that suggestion.
"The invitation to Prime Minister David Cameron was not based on that," minister of mass media and communications Keheliya Rambukwella told the BBC.
"We are a sovereign nation. You think someone can just make a demand from Sri Lanka?
"We are not a colony. We are an independent state."
Asked about the comments, Mr Cameron maintained he was right to raise questions, adding: "That's exactly what I'll be doing."
Although he said he wanted to deliver a "tough message" to the Sri Lankan government, he pledged not to be "completely uncompromising".
Mr Cameron explained: "There are some positive steps that have been taken in Sri Lanka: the fact that they had elections to a northern provincial council; the fact that there is a process of reconciliation, it's just not going as far as we would like it to go.
"So on the ledger, there are some things on the positive side, but there are too many things on the negative side. Now that's a frank conversation I think we should be able to have."
British media in Sri Lanka who have been asking questions about the government's human rights record have struggled to get answers.
A Channel 4 documentary team was forced to give up on reaching the north of the south Asian state after being stopped by pro-government demonstrators.
A BBC cameraman was physically restrained by security officials at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as he and correspondent James Robbins were attempting to film Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a media event before the formal opening.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "My party has been clear that in our view we believe that this lamentable human rights situation meant that the British prime minister - like the Canadian and Indian prime ministers - should not attend the summit."
But Mr Cameron, having decided to attend, must now "insist on the full implementation of the recommendations of Sri Lanka's own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission", Mr Miliband argued, in an article for the Tamil Guardian.
He also urged the UK prime minister to "seek urgent assurances from the Sri Lankan authorities" that they will respect the Commonwealth's values on human rights as they respond to any protests that may take place during the forthcoming summit.
Labour's shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander was blunter, telling the BBC: "The prime minister has blundered, and blundered badly, in his decision to attend the summit."
Mr Cameron, who arrived in Delhi on Wednesday en route to the summit, has met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The UK PM has hailed "extraordinary progress" on trade and investment since his first visit in 2010, and pledged to "cement Britain as India's partner of choice".
He is also seeking to reassure Indian nationals about his drive to cut immigration to the UK. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8722701.stm | Didier Drogba has been granted permission by world governing body Fifa to play in the World Cup while wearing a cast to protect his fractured arm.
The Chelsea forward's involvement had been in doubt after suffering the injury in a friendly against Japan on 4 June, but his recovery has gone well.
Fifa said that Tuesday's referee Jorge Larrionda had permitted the cast.
Drogba, 32, came on as a 65th-minute substitute in Ivory Coast's first group G match against Portugal on Tuesday.
Fifa's head of media Nicolas Maingot said: "The cast has been seen by the Portuguese delegation at Monday's match co-ordination meeting."
Accordingly, all parties were satisfied that the cast did not pose a danger to other players - although the Ivory Coast coach Sven-Goran Eriksson decided not to risk him from the start at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
"Everybody knows what Drogba is for Chelsea and for us - he's a great player," said Eriksson ahead of the match.
He added: "[But] we have a lot of good players who are strong and have good technique.
"We're in a difficult group with Portugal, Brazil and North Korea, but the boys are working very hard."
Drogba required surgery after fracturing his arm in Sion, Switzerland, in a collision with Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka - three minutes after the forward had opened the scoring with a 13th-minute deflected free-kick.
Afterwards, Eriksson refused to blame Tanaka for the incident.
"It was unlucky," the 62-year-old former England boss said at the time.
"It wasn't bad or stupid. He didn't want to hurt anyone. Football is a game of contact."
At the 1970 World Cup, Germany defender Franz Beckenbauer wore a sling in the semi-final against Italy having dislocated his shoulder during the match, while England striker Gary Lineker sported a cast to protect a broken wrist during the 1986 competition. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36519044 | One of the biggest networks of spam-sending computers in the world has gone quiet, puzzling experts, internet security firms have said.
For years the Necurs botnet has distributed junk mail and malware for many different groups of cyber-thieves.
But the amount of malicious traffic emerging from Necurs has now dwindled to almost nothing.
It is not clear what has caused the slowdown and whether traffic will return to previously high levels.
One of the first signs of the disruption was seen earlier this month when email messages spreading the Dridex banking trojan and Locky ransomware caught by security firms dried up.
Typically, millions of messages bearing these malicious programs are sent out every week, Proofpoint said in a blogpost.
However, the flood of messages "essentially stopped" last week, it said. Investigations revealed that these messages typically travelled via the Necurs botnet which was found to have gone largely offline.
The Necurs botnet is believed to be made up of about six million compromised Windows machines, many of which were enrolled when their owners inadvertently fell victim to a form of malware known as a rootkit.
Analysis of some of the machines known to be part of Necurs shows that its core administration systems have disappeared, said Proofpoint.
"Data from a variety of sources show that Necurs bots are actively looking for a new command and control (C&C) system, but we have no evidence that the Necurs botmaster has been able to retake control of the botnet."
A botnet's C&C system helps the network keep running and co-ordinates the distribution of any spam or malware being sent out via the global collection of computers.
Security researchers who monitor botnets and the groups that operate them said the cause of the shutdown remained a mystery.
"We cannot confirm how the botnet was brought down yet," Joonho Sa, a researcher for FireEye, told tech news site Motherboard. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-17152620 | The Lockerbie bomber has claimed he was told it would be easier for him to get early release from prison if he dropped an appeal against his conviction.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi made the claim in a new biography.
He said he was told the suggestion came in a private meeting between a Libyan official, Abdulati al-Obedi, and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.
Mr MacAskill said the decision to drop the appeal was always a decision for Mr Megrahi.
The Libyan - the only man to be convicted of the 1988 atrocity - dropped his appeal against conviction in August 2009 and later the same month he was freed by Mr MacAskill on compassionate grounds due to his inoperable cancer.
In a biography just published, Megrahi claims he was told dropping the appeal would enhance his chances of gaining compassionate release.
The book states that Mr MacAskill met a delegation of Libyan officials 10 days before announcing his decision, including foreign minister Abdulati al-Obedi.
In the book, Megrahi claimed: "After the meeting, the Libyan delegation came to the prison to visit me.
"Obedi said that, towards the end of the meeting, MacAskill had asked to speak to him in private.
"Once the others had withdrawn, he stated that MacAskill gave him to understand that it would be easier to grant compassionate release if I dropped my appeal.
"He said he was not demanding that I do so, but the message seemed to me clear.
"I was legally entitled to continue the appeal, but I could not risk doing so. It meant abandoning my quest for justice."
Mr MacAskill said: "It was always a decision for Mr al-Megrahi whether he maintained or abandoned his appeal, the decision I made was not predicated in any case on that, but that was a matter for him and his legal team."
Megrahi's biographer John Ashton told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme he was not accusing the Scottish government of offering him a release deal.
He said: "A deal is not alleged, what is alleged is Mr MacAskill said to Mr Obedi it would be easier for us to grant compassionate release if Mr Megrahi dropped his appeal.
"It was Mr Megrahi's decision to drop the appeal and he could have could have continued with it, that would have been a risk as far as he was concerned, but it was never put on the table as an deal - you drop the appeal and we give you compassionate release."
However, Mr Ashton added that there were still serious issues for The Crown, the Scottish government and the Scottish justice system over what he calls failures to disclose information and evidence which potentially indicate a miscarriage of justice.
Meanwhile, aBBC Scotland investigationreveals new evidence about the fragment of timer found in a Roxburghshire forest which was crucial to Megrahi's conviction.
The evidence was never revealed to his lawyers and campaigners claim it could have significantly affected the verdict of the trial judges.
The programme also sees Megrahi express forgiveness for the man whose evidence was crucial in finding him guilty.
Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci identified him as purchasing clothes found packed around the bomb.
His evidence linked Megrahi with the explosion in which 270 people died.
Megrahi, 59, denies buying the clothes, but in the interview to be shown on BBC Scotland he said he forgave Mr Gauci.
"I'll tell him he dealt with me very wrongly," he said.
"I have never seen him in my entire life except when he came to the court.
"I find him a very simple man. But I do forgive him." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36365966 | A thick layer of ash has covered several villages in Indonesia after the eruption of Mount Sinabung on Sumatra island.
At least seven people died after clouds of hot ash and gas consumed farmland around the mountain on Sunday.
The ash reached towns 12km (seven miles) away, local military head Agustatius Sitepu told AFP, including Gamber village in North Sumatra.
Even though the eruptions have subsided since Sunday, residents are still being warned to stay away from the 2,460m (8,070 foot) volcano, which is among the country's most active.
"We urge the people surrounding Mount Sinabung to keep away from the red zones, which are within a three kilometre radius from the crater, or within a four kilometre radius from the equator in the north to northeast sector, or a six to seven kilometre in the south and southeast sector," said local official Muhammad Nuril Ansori.
Sinabung had been dormant for 400 years when it began erupting again in 2010.
More than a dozen people were killed in a particularly fierce eruption in 2014, the same year that residents were ordered to evacuate. However, some have since returned to their farms.
Indonesia, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, has more than 120 active volcanoes. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-29368666/holuhran-lava-flow-threat-to-iceland-highland-road | Lava flow threat to Iceland road Jump to media player The flow of lava from an erupting volcano in Holuhran, Iceland, has continued to spread and threatens to cross a major highland road.
Video of eruption at Iceland volcano Jump to media player Video footage shows a new eruption from a fissure near the Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland's Holuhraun lava field.
Volcanic eruption captured on camera Jump to media player What might be one of the last explosions of ash from the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland has been caught on camera.
The flow of lava from an erupting volcano in Holuhran, Iceland, has continued to spread and threatens to cross a major highland road.
Lava from the volcano in Vatnajökull National Park currently covers an area of about 25 sq miles (40 sq km) and is 200m from the Gæsavatnaleid highland road.
The road, which has been closed to the public, has been used by scientists in the area who are conducting research into the lava flow.
On Wednesday about 40 earthquakes were registered in the area.
Pollution from the volcano has also affected towns in the north and east of the country. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-cambridgeshire-47897482/armed-police-stopped-128mph-chase-teen-near-peterborough | Armed police stopped 128mph pursuit teen Jump to media player The 19-year-old man was involved in two armed police pursuits.
Driver crashes into ditch in police chase Jump to media player The footage captured by Thames Valley Police shows the driver crashing in Bracknell.
Lyon airport car chase Jump to media player The driver tried to flee on foot but was surrounded and arrested by officials.
Jet ski police chase on the Thames Jump to media player Onlookers caught sight of police chasing people riding jet skis in London.
Passenger 'blocks' police in chase Jump to media player Police have released footage of a high-speed car chase through Birmingham with officers pursuing a man believed to be in a stolen car.
Police chase after runaway buffalo Jump to media player A buffalo in the American state of Texas found itself in a high speed chase with police after it was spotted running through a neighbourhood.
Video of police chase before shooting Jump to media player Video has emerged of the police chase which took place outside the Capitol in Washington DC today.
A 19-year-old has been detained after leading police on two high-speed pursuits.
George Bellamy, of Broadway, Yaxley, reached speeds of 128mph (206km/h) during the chase on 15 June, before crashing into a barrier close to Peterborough and fleeing along with three passengers.
Bellamy was found on the roundabout island along with a bag containing the Mercedes car key, among other items.
While on bail for the pursuit, he was involved in a second high-speed chase where he was found to be more than four times the drug-drive limit.
Bellamy admitted failing to stop and driving while under the influence of drugs at Cambridge Crown Court.
He previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without due care and attention, failing to stop and driving without insurance.
Bellamy was sentenced to 12 months in a young offenders’ institution and was also disqualified from driving for two years and six months. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-devon-44951601 | The doorman is accused of sexually harassing Emily White and making comments about her breasts.
The 42-year-old builder who was arrested with two French nationals was well-known among Newquay surfers.
A30 Cornwall westbound severe disruption, between B3274 and A39.
A30 Cornwall - A30 closed and queuing traffic westbound between Victoria and Indian Queens, because of an overturned car. Diversion in operation - Eastbound traffic to take the A39 to Wadebridge and then A389 to A30 Bodmin. WB traffic follow same route in reverse.
Gil Winfield, 48, is warned he could be jailed when he is sentenced in September.
One or two light showers are possible overnight on Tuesday but, in general, there will be lots of dry weather with some clear spells. Light or moderate south-westerly winds.
Minimum temperature: 8 to 13C (46 to 56F).
There will be some large areas of cloud at times on Wednesday but there will be sunny intervals as well. A few light showers are possible too, especially later in the day.
Maximum temperature: 18 to 21C (64 to 70F).
Passengers for the ferry between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly have been told to "check-in as normal" on Wednesday by the company that runs the service.
This is after the Tuesday crossings of the Scillonian were cancelled because of an electrical fault.
Hundreds of passengers were delayed for three hours on St Mary's on Monday night after the ship developed the fault.
The Isles of Scilly Steamship Company says the service is scheduled to depart Penzance at 0915.
The former partner of Devon and Cornwall's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has been warned he faces jail for assaulting and stalking her.
Forty-eight-year-old Gil Winfield, of Cricketfield Road, Torquay, attacked Alison Hernandez twice during their relationship and harassed her when it broke down, Exeter Crown Court heard.
He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating and one of stalking when he appeared at Plymouth Magistrates Court in April.
Earlier today (Tuesday) he was in court attempting to change these pleas but was refused permission to do so.
He was released on bail until his next court appearance, due in September, but was warned by the judge "there is a risk of immediate imprisonment".
Conservative Ms Hernandez (pictured) was elected as PCC in May 2016.
A multimillion-pound link road in Plymouth has been given the green light, the city council says.
It will connect William Prance Road in Derriford with the junction of Forder Valley Road and Novorossiysk Road, providing "an additional route from the east of the city to the north".
The council said it was an "important milestone" which would help drivers avoid the Manadon roundabout and Tavistock Road.
The Department for Transport has earmarked £22.5m towards the £38m scheme. Another £4.5m is coming from Highways England.
Work is due to get under way early next year with the main construction planned to take about two years.
More than 30 shops, restaurants and pubs across Penzance are currently using two-way radios as part of the town's Shop Watch scheme.
Local police said on Facebook said that the neighbourhood policing team also had two radios to monitor and use as part of the scheme, which aimed to help businesses share information "amongst themselves should any of them have a theft or attempted theft occur, or simply to warn other users that a prolific shoplifter may be about."
The 31 businesses taking part also display a sticker in their window to show they are part of it.
Officers said the scheme had been reintroduced "over the past several months" in conjunction with the Penzance BID - the local business improvement district.
They added: "We have noticed great use of the system already whereby shoplifters have been deterred and even wanted persons have been caught."
A local businessman has shared pictures of a special customer who took part at his axe-throwing activity at a Cornish festival over the weekend.
Homeland and Billions star Damien Lewis showed up at Jay Dorman's base at the Port Eliot Festival, St Germans, on Sunday.
Mr Dorman runs Canoe Cornwall which hosts various adventure activities.
He said the actor, who got involved along with his family, was "Good fun and very engaging - very tolerant of people coming up and saying hi and a real family man."
A rail passenger from Devon says South Western Railway (SWR) "don't care" about people at local stations.
Strikes on the service have meant some places in the county are not getting replacement bus services - much to the dismay of those who use it.
SWR says it can't source enough replacement buses to serve Pinhoe, Cranbrook, Whimple and Feniton on strike days but passengers can use their tickets on local buses.
Tuesday is the third day of strikes by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) over the role of guards.
Video caption: Rail passengers from five stations in Devon say they're being abandoned during strikes.Rail passengers from five stations in Devon say they're being abandoned during strikes.
The most powerful fans in England?
Having started the process that led to their manager leaving after 12 years, are Exeter City fans the most powerful in England?
A judge says Nicholas Webber-Dollery used his "teeth as a weapon" during the attack in a nightclub.
Hit BBC drama Poldark has been slammed by an animal welfare charity over its use of a monkey after a recent episode of Poldark in a scene of a primate entertaining crowds at a fair.
On the A390 between Gunnislake and Gulworthy, there are reports of a broken-down tractor that has lost a big round hay bale blocking the road.
More details have emerged about two teenage girls who were hospitalised after taking a mystery drug in Bodmin.
The girls had been at a house party which "spilled out on to the street" when a 17-year-old girl suffered a "fairly substantial reaction" to the unknown substance, Acting Ch Insp Julian Morris from Liskeard Police told the BBC.
Her "prognosis is now good" and she is due to be discharged from hospital this afternoon, he said.
The 16-year-old girl she was with was discharged on Monday.
The substance is being tested but it is believed it might have been MDMA, or ecstacy, he added.
We are making inquiries as to where they got the drugs from and we'd like to warn others not to take part in substance misuse".
A390 Cornwall both ways severe disruption, between Under Road and B3257.
A390 Cornwall - A390 in Gunnislake blocked and slow traffic in both directions between the Under Road junction and the B3257 junction, because of a shed load of hay. Approach with care.
The Tuesday crossing of the Scillonian ferry from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly has been cancelled because of continuing work to deal with an electrical fault on board the vessel.
Hundreds of passengers were delayed for three hours on the Isles of Scilly on Monday night after the ship developed the fault.
Engineers were flown out to fix the problem while passengers were looked after by local businesses. The vessel later returned to Penzance.
Managers said the fault had been identified as being in "back-up emergency batteries" and electricians were "doing all they can to resolve the fault to ensure that the vessel returns to service a quickly as possible".
The majority of passengers booked on to Tuesday's sailing had been "transferred to Skybus and island helicopter services from Land's End Airport and our travel centre representatives are currently making contact with the remainder of today's passengers".
A mother has said beach signs about water quality need to be "bigger and more obvious" after her daughter got sick from swimming at a beach in north Devon due to the recent hot spell.
She was diagnosed with cryptosporidium after her swim at Wildersmouth Beach in Ilfracombe.
North Devon Council said signs at the beach are in line with industry standards. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-the-papers-39826877 | No one doubts the right of Prime Minister Theresa May to claim an emphatic win in the local elections. The Daily Telegraph calls the outcome a "massive victory" and the Sun says she "turned Britain blue". The i talks of a Tory "blue tide".
However, the Guardian looks at the maths and argues that Britain was, in fact, evenly-divided. The Conservatives and UKIP, it says, took 43% of the votes - while Labour and the Liberal Democrats received 45%. This leads the paper to conclude that "the country has not fallen in love with Mrs May".
The Daily Express believes that "the public has warmed" to the PM. But it, and others, explain that Mrs May's triumph has resulted from the "collapse" of the UKIP vote.
"UKIP died as a political force", says the i, while the Daily Mail apes the tone of an old-style announcement: "Today," it says, "the Mail is sad to report the death, at just 26, of one of the most effective forces ever to shake up British politics."
"UKIP disappeared", says the Telegraph, "and its vote went to the Conservatives." The Times calls UKIP "a gateway drug", saying it first drew votes away from Labour, then passed them on to the Tories.
Labour, says the Sun, had been in a panic about the rise of UKIP - now it looks set to panic about the consequences of the party's collapse.
Few things, away from politics, receive much close attention - but the prospect of a crackdown on polluting diesel cars and vans has stirred up feeling.
The Daily Mirror worries that the government is about to "clobber" diesel vehicle owners with financial penalties. It points out that people bought them in good faith, many believing they were less damaging to the environment.
The Mail believes those owners were "monstrously misled and betrayed" by the Labour government. It warns its readers: "Never trust gimmick-prone politicians who tell you science is on their side."
An expert quoted in the i points out that modern diesel cars can be as clean as petrol engines anyway. As the Sun comments, it is not a problem that can be "sorted overnight".
Half of Saturday's papers use their front pages to report the death of the boyfriend of BBC Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball.
The Express says the body of Billy Yates was found at his flat in south-west London. Several papers suggest he took his own life. The Star says Ms Ball has been left "heartbroken".
Talking to yourself, reports the Telegraph, "may actually be a sign of intelligence." The paper says that researchers at Bangor University have found people who, for example, read instructions out loud actually perform the task they are engaged in better than those who stay silent.
"Speaking out loud", echoes the Mirror, "helps the brain to absorb material". The Mail adds the researchers think their study has shown that, far from being "the first sign of madness", talking to yourself is a way of using all the means at your disposal to increase your brain power. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8613402.stm | Double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva is to take an indefinite break from the sport.
In a statement, Russian Isinbayeva, 27, said, "A break from competing is absolutely necessary for me."
She may return in time for the European Championships in Barcelona in July and expects to compete at London 2012.
The world record-holder has struggled this year, missing out on medals at the World Championships last August and at last month's World Indoors.
"After more than eight years of very hard training and competing at the highest levels both indoors and outdoors each year I need to step back in order for my body to properly recover," Isinbayeva continued.
"It is my full intention to continue training and keep myself fit. At this moment I cannot exactly say when I will return to competitions.
"I have not completely ruled out the entire summer circuit or the European Championships in Barcelona," added the three-time world indoor champion.
"Nothing has changed with my long term goals which includes the 2011 and 2013 World Championships and the Olympic gold in London 2012."
Isinbayeva won gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and a year later became the first woman to clear the five metre mark in Helsinki.
Golds at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships followed before she successfully defended her Olympic crown at the 2008 Beijing Games.
In the same year, she also completed a hat-trick of World Indoor victories in Valenica.
In 2009, she became the first woman to vault over five metres indoors at a meeting in Donetsk, and was named the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year.
At the World Championships in Berlin that year, though, she failed to achieve a successful vault as Pole Anna Rogowska took her crown.
She bounced back from that disappointment by setting a new outdoor world record of 5.06m in Zurich but could only manage 4.45m at the World Indoors in Qatar in March as Brazilian Fabiana Murer took gold. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1236380.stm | Women come round more quickly from anaesthetic than men, but take longer to fully recover, say researchers.
Despite opening their eyes and obeying commands more quickly, Australian scientists found women took 25% longer to recover after having a general anaesthetic.
The team, from the department of anaesthesia and pain management at the Alfred Hospital, in Victoria, monitored 241 men and 222 women for three days after they had undergone surgery.
The team now say more research is needed to investigate why there are differences between the sexes, and improve recovery from anaesthetic.
In addition to having a slower recovery, women were found to be more likely to suffer from side effects such as nausea, vomiting, headaches, backaches and sore throats.
Although the side effects are relatively minor, patients suffering from them will not be discharged from the recovery room.
So, although women come round more quickly, both sexes are discharged from the recovery room after a similar length of time.
A previous study two years ago had looked at one kind of anaesthetic drug and found that women woke up more quickly, and are perhaps less sensitive to the drug.
The Australian study, in the British Medical Journal, looked at a wider range of anaesthetic drugs, and found women had the same reaction to all of them.
"Women recover more slowly, suggesting they are more sensitive to the side effects of the drugs, or recover more slowly from the effects of surgery itself.
"We have known for some time that women have higher rates of nausea and vomiting after surgery; but our BMJ study has found they also have more headache, and backache.
"Importantly, their overall quality of recovery is worse."
The scientists say hormonal differences may explain why women are more likely to suffer side effects.
Almost a third of women were likely to feel, or be sick, in the recovery room, compared to 16% of men.
About the same numbers suffered backache.
The team, led by Paul Myles, wrote in the British Medical Journal: "Postoperative nausea and vomiting in women has been related to the phase of the menstrual cycle, and women have a higher incidence of migraine and tension headaches generally.
"Postoperative backache may be attributed to immobility of the lumbar spine during surgery, and there are anatomical differences between men and women."
Women and men may also react differently to the anaesthetic drugs, the researchers speculated.
They suggest women may also be more likely to report side effects.
However, as all participants in the study were asked about those side effects, the researchers say it is unlikely that affected this study.
Professor Myles said: "More research is needed to identify what factors cause these differences, whether it is hormones, differences in brain-nerve pathways, or are there specific anaesthetic drugs that have better effects in women?
He added: "By developing new methods to improve recovery from anaesthesia and surgery, we hope to be able to avoid major complications, get people back to their normal daily life, and save healthcare dollars."
Until that research is done, the researchers said doctors should ask patients about their experiences after surgery and anaesthesia in order to improve things for patients. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-45455814/jewish-new-year-how-to-make-a-honey-cake | Jewish New Year: How to make a honey cake.
The Jewish Chronicle's food editor Victoria Prever set up a "honey cake hotline" after so many bakers struggled to make the perfect cake.
The honey cake is traditionally eaten for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
Produced by Alex Dackevych and Megan Fisher. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-london-39258117/sponsors-sought-for-bexley-council-s-dog-poo-bags | Sponsors for dog poo bags are being sought by a south-east London council to try and plug the gap in local authority funding.
The bags, which will feature companies's logos, will be handed out to residents in Bexley's parks and green spaces.
Bexley Council said: "Companies will not only be promoting their business but will be helping to encourage dog owners to clean up after their pets."
The council said it had to make at least £34m worth of savings by 2018. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20938620 | Media captionNetwork Rail says the project will bring jobs to the region.
More than £500m is to be spent electrifying the Midland Mainline, under a five-year plan announced by Network Rail.
The company said electrifying the line, which runs from London to Sheffield via the East Midlands, would allow for more reliable and faster trains.
The plan also includes an investment of £137m to increase capacity on the Derby line.
Some platforms would also be extended to accommodate longer trains.
A further £458m will be spent improving capacity at the southern end of the line.
It is part of Network Rail's business plan for the 2014-19 period.
The company said the biggest investment in infrastructure since the Victorian era would reduce costs and help it to avoid delays.
At present the line is only electrified between London's St Pancras and Bedford, but under the new plans this would be extended to Sheffield, via stations including Wellingborough, Kettering, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield.
Route managing director Martin Frobisher said: "We're going to be investing over £1bn in the region, and that obviously creates lots of jobs through the construction, the operation and the maintenance of the facilities that are built.
"So this is a real opportunity to take the East Midlands from the diesel railway we've got today, to one of the most modern electric railways in Europe." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44561987 | Image caption UK-based Airbus staff made 18,000 visits to the company's French operations alone last year.
In a speech at a business festival in Liverpool, Business Secretary Greg Clark today insisted that services must be part of any Brexit deal with the EU and issued a series of demands.
UK employees servicing EU customers must be allowed to travel just as frictionlessly as the goods that have dominated the negotiations so far.
Professional qualifications of UK workers must be recognised in the EU to allow companies to send qualified staff at short notice to perform business-critical functions including training or installing, servicing and repairing products sold to EU customers.
UK firms must also be able to send any profits generated by services delivered in the EU back to the UK.
Services account for 80% of the UK economy, and the UK sells more services to the EU than it buys.
Mr Clark said: "Over the years, we've become used to these arrangements. But they don't happen without agreement.
"So, as we leave the European Union, this is every bit as important as avoiding barriers in manufactured goods."
To date, negotiations have focused on the frictionless movement of goods between the UK and the EU. Services are every bit as important - if not more, according to Mr Clark.
He said: "£90bn of services exports went to the EU in 2016. That's more than to our next eight largest partners - the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Canada, China, Singapore and Norway - combined."
I put it to him that the UK government was in a weak position to start issuing demands when it couldn't make up its own mind on key issues like the kind of customs arrangement it wanted with the EU.
Two years on from the referendum, two models are still being considered.
First, the maximum facilitation (max fac) model which envisages using new (unspecified) technology to reduce friction at our ports, airports and, crucially, at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Second, a new "customs partnership" that would see the UK collecting EU tariffs on goods bound for European markets on the EU's behalf - and sending them on to Brussels - with the option of paying refunds on goods remaining in the UK.
The first option will cost UK business up to £10bn per annum - and £20bn in total for both sides - according to HMRC. It's a calculation not disputed by the business secretary.
The second has been dismissed as unworkable by the EU, which says it would essentially make the UK a border authority for a bloc of which it was no longer a member.
Privately, Mr Clark acknowledges that either option would take many years to implement - certainly longer than the agreed transition period which ends in December 2020.
What Mr Clark's intervention today does illustrate is the very grey line between goods and services.
When Rolls Royce sells an engine to an airline it usually does so at a loss. The company makes its money on long term maintenance, inspection and repair contracts that can last decades.
Selling the engine is the start - not the end of the deal. Getting skilled workers to customer sites at short notice is essential.
UK-based Airbus employees made 18,000 visits to France alone last year. The company runs its own air shuttle between Broughton and Toulouse.
According to Mr Clark: "Restricting people's ability to travel at short notice would be as damaging to our economy as frictions and disruption in the transfer of goods at our borders."
The simple answer to these issues would be to remain a member of the single market and the customs union as many businesses have recommended.
That option has been categorically ruled out by the Prime Minister as it would prevent the UK striking new trade deals with non-EU countries and it comes with accepting the free movement of people between the EU and the UK.
An option Mr Clark accepts is politically impossible. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6491577.stm | Royal Navy personnel seized at gunpoint by Iran in the Gulf have admitted being in the country's waters, an Iranian general has claimed.
Gen Ali Reza Afshar told Iranian media the 15 personnel were being interrogated, but were in good health.
The Foreign Office could not say where the group was being held. It insists they had not been in Iranian waters.
Earlier, minister Lord Triesman met with the Iranian ambassador in London to demand their immediate release.
In the hour-long meeting, Lord Triesman also sought assurances about the group's welfare and asked that they are seen by consular staff.
Britain's UN ambassador, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, told BBC World TV that he had hoped to raise the matter with Iran's foreign minister at the UN on Saturday, but was prevented by the Security Council's debate over Iran's nuclear programme.
Sir Emyr said: "I would have wished very much to have had the opportunity to approach the foreign minister and simply ask for the release of those sailors.
"Unfortunately, he allowed the debate to continue for 90 minutes before he joined us. He then assailed us for 40 minutes and then left before anyone else, and was shepherded out of the building."
Iran's Fars news agency earlier said the group of sailors, which includes one woman, was flown to Tehran, arriving in the capital at 1200 local time (0830 GMT).
But that report was later withdrawn from the agency's website.
Meanwhile, the German presidency of the European Union has demanded the immediate release of the personnel.
The 15 were seized on Friday after boarding a boat in the Gulf.
They were from HMS Cornwall, based in Plymouth - the flagship of the coalition-Iraqi force which patrols Iraqi territorial waters in the northern Gulf to combat smuggling.
They had inspected an Iraqi boat before returning to their two small boats where they were seized before being moved along the Shatt al-Arab waterway to Iranian bases.
The British task force commander, Commodore Nick Lambert, said there had been no evidence of fighting.
Lord Triesman's meeting with ambassador Rasoul Movahedian followed a meeting on Friday between Ibrahim Rahimpour, Iran's director general for Western European affairs, and the UK's charge d'affaires, Kate Smith, in Tehran.
Former Royal Navy head Admiral Sir Alan West dismissed suggestions the British boats had strayed into Iranian waters.
Sir Alan was first sea lord in 2004 when Iran detained eight British servicemen for three days after they allegedly strayed over the maritime border.
The men were paraded blindfolded and made to apologise on Iranian TV before their release was agreed.
Sir Alan told BBC News that tracking systems then had proven that the servicemen had been in Iraqi waters.
"They can do lots of smokescreens and things like that but I am absolutely clear in my mind it would have been in our waters," he said.
The Ministry of Defence has been in contact with relatives of the group.
The seizure follows claims that much of the violence against UK forces in Basra is being engineered by Iranian elements, which Tehran denies. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/224563.stm | Home Secretary Jack Straw has received letters from more than 100 MPs who urge him not to free General Pinochet.
Most of these came from Labour members, who are suspicious of Chile's promise to try the general in Santiago if the extradition request is refused.
The issue was not raised at home secretary's questions on Monday, when MPs from all parties get their chance to quiz the department's ministers.
Mr Straw has already been granted a week's extension of the normal ruling period in this case in order to consider the complicated and contentious arguments laid before him.
The final date for representations to the home secretary on the case is Monday.
Those demanding General Pinochet's release warn of scuppering trade relations with Chile and point to the former dictator's failing health now he has turned 83.
But the majority of Labour MPs appear to agree with the view of Trade Secretary Peter Mandelson who said it would be "gut-wrenching" to watch the general walk free.
General Pinochet is accused of crimes of genocide and torture, which he ordered during his time as Chile's ruler.
When he agreed to stand down as president and become a senator for life, he negotiated permanent immunity from prosecution within his country.
The UK's courts initially took the view that his meant he also had immunity from prosecution in any other country and ruled against the request for his extradition.
But the Law Lords over-turned this decision by a majority of 3-2, saying crimes against humanity could not be granted such a get out clause.
The Labour chairman of the all-party human rights group, Ann Clwyd, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme she welcome this as a precedent.
"We think it's a very important decision and it's going to signal to all those dictators guilty of torture and genocide and crimes against humanity that the UK will not provide them a hiding place and in future they can expect the same kind of treatment."
Donald Anderson, Labour chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, also urged Mr Straw to let the extradition go ahead.
He told BBC News Online he had no concerns about setting such a legal precedent for the conduct of international relations.
"Let's tyrants tremble," he said, dismissing the suggestion that prosecutions could be brought against a large number of former state leaders.
He added that he had no time for former prime minister Margaret Thatcher's argument that General Pinochet should be freed on compassionate grounds.
"It bears ill for a guy who gave no compassion to his enemies to expect any now," he said.
"But, if I were on his legal team, I would be advising to contact the same doctor who diagnosed Ernest Saunders with Alzheimer's disease - he has since gone on to make a remarkable recovery." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-45435843/testing-out-natural-aphrodisiacs-in-ghana | Putting natural aphrodisiacs to the test Jump to media player Natural aphrodisiacs for sale in Ghana - but what's in them?
From solar car inventions to beds that power phones Jump to media player Samuel Karimbo is a Kenyan inventor who prides himself on thinking outside the box.
In Ghana, so-called natural aphrodisiacs are easily available in markets, or even on the side of the road.
But what exactly do they contain? |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34272334 | Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has told the BBC that he will not campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.
Mr Corbyn said that while policy was "developing" he could not foresee a situation where Labour would campaign for a "Brexit" under his leadership.
He has come under growing pressure from Labour MPs to clarify his position.
Mr Corbyn, who took part in his first prime minister's questions (PMQs) on Wednesday, has also questioned if he should have to join the Privy Council.
In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg, he would not commit to taking part in the historic Privy Council ceremony, which requires senior politicians to kneel before the Queen.
He also said it was "very strange" his decision not to sing the national anthem at a service commemorating the Battle of Britain had attracted so much interest - insisting he had "respected the sacrifice" of those who had fought and died.
Asked about potential disagreements with shadow cabinet members, many of whom did not back his leadership bid, he said there would be discussions ahead.
He also urged colleagues to respect his mandate and insisted the final decision on policy would be his.
Mr Corbyn used his first PMQs to put questions from members of the public to David Cameron - an approach which he said meant "people's voices would be heard".
Media captionJeremy Corbyn on kneeling to the Queen: "I didn't know that was involved"
Telling MPs that he wanted to make PMQs "less theatrical" and more in touch with public concerns, he asked six questions on housing, tax credits and mental health which he said had been suggested to him by members of the public.
Mr Cameron, who began his own career as opposition leader in 2005 promising to end "Punch and Judy" politics, said "no one would be more delighted than me" if PMQs could become a "genuine exercise in asking questions and answering questions".
Well we're only four days in and an awful lot has happened. Not only was there a totally new PMQs this lunchtime, tonight Jeremy Corbyn gave his first proper interview since winning the leadership and had some extremely interesting things to say, and some surprises.
Mr Corbyn, who is regarded as the most eurosceptic Labour leader for years, has insisted that Mr Cameron should not be given a "blank cheque" in negotiations about the UK's EU membership ahead of a future in-out referendum, and any changes he secures must be the "right ones".
Since being elected on Saturday, he has declined to categorically rule out campaigning for the UK to leave the EU - despite shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn saying this should be the case and shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer saying he would quit if this happened.
Mr Corbyn told the BBC that policy was still "developing" but he said he envisaged making the UK's continued membership of the EU a manifesto commitment for the 2020 election.
Asked whether he could ever foresee campaigning to leave the EU, he replied: "No I don't see that position."
But he said he wanted the EU to change direction and move away from the increasingly market-driven model he said it had adopted in the past 20 years.
"We are having discussions to sort this question out. Basically, on the question of Europe, I want to see a social Europe, a cohesive Europe, a coherent Europe, not a free market Europe.
"That is a developing position. It is not a problem, we have had that discussion, we are continuing that discussion, there will be very clear statements coming out in the very near future."
He rejected suggestions that his position had shifted, adding: "What I remain opposed to is the idea that David Cameron could go around and give up workers rights, give up environmental protection, give up a whole load of things that are very important."
In the interview, Mr Corbyn refused to say whether he would kneel before the Queen as a prerequisite of joining the Privy Council - the historic body of senior politicians that advises the monarch on matters of state and receives security briefings.
As part of the Privy Council ceremony, politicians kneel before the Queen and kiss her hand but Mr Corbyn - who is a longstanding republican - said he "didn't know that was involved" and said he would discuss the matter with colleagues.
"Of course I'll end up being a member of the Privy Council if that's what the requirement of the job is. I think there are some things that ought to change in our society and maybe that's one of them."
Critics have accused Mr Corbyn of making a series of "unforced errors" since he became leader but senior figures in the party - including Lord Prescott and Margaret Beckett - have been supportive, welcoming his change of tactics at PMQs and insisting that he is "finding his feet".
Amid calls for him to do more to get his message across in the media, Labour announced that it had appointed a senior former aide to Ken Livingstone as the party's new director for policy and rebuttal.
Neale Coleman worked for the Greater London Assembly for 12 years, during which he advised Ken Livingstone and his successor Boris Johnson on housing, regeneration and the 2012 Olympic bid, before becoming chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation.
Meanwhile, businessman and Hull City football club owner Assem Allam has reportedly offered to support MPs who want to break away from Labour and launch a centrist party or defect to the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Allam, who has donated £720,000 to Labour since 2010, told The Times the party under Mr Corbyn was too left-wing and faced two or three further election defeats.
He said: "I will do anything I can if I am convinced they can form a strong opposition." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/8578019.stm | Hibernian manager John Hughes felt his side gave themselves too much to recover from in the 2-1 loss to Hearts.
The visitors found themselves two goals down at the break and Hughes was unhappy with how they had defended.
"We had to score three goals in the second half to win the football match, that's too much of an uphill task.
"I felt we were on top when they scored their first goal and the way it came about, it's really disappointing. The second one was a poor goal to concede."
Hibs have slipped from third to fifth in the Scottish Premier League with the Easter Road struggling to recapture their early-season form.
And Hughes admits they need to improve defensively to turn results around.
"I need a wee bit more organisation in there," said Hughes.
"That comes with experience, guys that are in who are going to bully people and organise. We're a little bit away from that right at this moment in time."
Hughes now turns his attention to Tuesday's Scottish Cup replay against Ross County at Victoria Park, with European qualification from a league place still achievable for the Leith side.
"I don't know how this season's going to pan out, but right at this moment in time, it's a massive disappointment for us coming here, derby game and getting turned over," added Hughes.
"But a lot of teams in Scotland would give their right arm for the position Hibs are in right now.
"I can't keep changing diapers all the time, the onus is on them. You're looking for strong characters to stand up and say, 'let's get this show on the road'.
"The great thing about football is that we've got the opportunity to do it on Tuesday in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup. If that doesn't motivate you, nothing will." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-33182881 | Police have released a CCTV image of a missing teenage boy from Glasgow who is believed to have travelled to England.
Thanh Van Bui, 15, was last seen in the city's Pollokshields area, where he lives, at about 07:45 on Friday.
CCTV cameras later recorded him within Central Station, where he spoke to a man and woman, before boarding a train bound for England.
Police have appealed for the man and woman, or anyone who knows them or Thanh's whereabouts, to get in touch.
Det Insp Colin Hailstones, of Police Scotland, said: "Given Thanh's age we are concerned about his wellbeing and safety.
"We've been following up several lines of inquiry into his current location."
Det Insp Hailstones said Thanh was filmed on CCTV in Central Station at about 12:15 on Friday.
"Thanh is seen on CCTV speaking to a man and woman," he said.
"I am very keen to trace these individuals as they may have vital information that could assist with our inquiry."
The man with Thanh is described as Asian. He was wearing blue denims and a light coloured polo style shirt and sunglasses.
The woman was wearing a short sleeve V-neck top, with pale blue sleeves and shoulders and dark blue lower half of the top.
She was wearing sunglasses on her head and a black pushchair.
Det Insp Hailstones urged both the man and woman to get in touch.
He added: "Similarly, I would like to speak to anyone who can identify the man and woman to get in touch. It is imperative that we are able to find Thanh safe and well."
Thanh is described as 5ft 4in tall, and of slim build with short dark hair. He was last seen he was wearing a black jacket, grey zipper top, jeans and grey trainers. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/sci_tech/2001/climate_change/default.stm | BBC News Online shines a spotlight on the key polluters responsible for greenhouse gas emission. We ask how much each of them emit and what they are doing about it. Click on the links to find out who will make or break the global climate treaty, the Kyoto Protocol. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-36250079 | NHS patients in England are being sent home from hospital afraid and with little support, an ombudsman report reveals.
The independent arbitrator investigated 211 such complaints in a year.
Among them is the case of a 80-year-old woman, repeatedly sent home in a confused state to an empty house, only to be readmitted to hospital when neighbours raised the alarm.
The NHS says the findings will be taken seriously and improvement is under way.
Media captionAngela Little: "She was always very very frightened"
The report shows that some of the most vulnerable patients, including frail and elderly people, are enduring harrowing ordeals when they leave hospital.
And that poor planning, co-ordination and communication between hospital staff and between health and social care services are failing patients, compromising their safety and dignity.
One patient, a woman in her late 90s, died in her granddaughter's arms shortly after being sent home from hospital in an ambulance, without a proper examination.
And a hospital transferred a distressed elderly woman to a nursing home in "a dishevelled state" with a tube (cannula) still in her arm.
One complaint to the ombudsman was from a family whose mother had been left in her home with no food, drink or bedding, unable to care for herself or get to the toilet.
Another was from a daughter whose frail mother, Pam, spent months in and out of hospital before her death.
Pam, born Alma Waller, was 80 when she died. In the months leading up to her death in 2012, she was sent home from hospital several times.
She lived alone and had Parkinson's disease and dementia. She was frail and unstable on her feet.
After initially being admitted to hospital following a fall, she was discharged and readmitted three times over a three-month period.
Her daughter, Angela Little, from Stevenage, says she still has nightmares about the poor care her mum received.
"She was an infirm old lady and the hospital still sent her home. The ambulance driver had to carry her in because she was so weak.
"I drove from my house, which is 40 minutes away, and I found this little old lady hunched in a chair shaking. She was absolutely terrified."
Angela says her mother had contemplated ending her own life because she was so distraught.
Pam was admitted to another hospital where she stayed until her death three weeks later.
Angela says: "I still can't believe what happened. Things need to change."
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) Julie Mellor said: "Health and social care leaders must work harder to uncover why 10 years of guidance to prevent unsafe discharge is not being followed, causing misery and distress for patients, families and carers."
The body that produces guidelines - the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence - said its recommendations were clear and should be followed.
The Department of Health said the failings were unacceptable and it would ensure "lessons are learnt".
The PHSO investigated 221 complaints - an increase of over a third in the previous year. Over half of these were upheld or partly upheld.
A spokesman from NHS Improvement said patients should never be discharged from hospital without the appropriate safeguards in place.
But he said neither should patients remain stuck in hospital.
"Rather than frail elderly people staying in hospital longer than they need to, it is better to get patients home as quickly as possible and to assess them in their own homes rather than in a hospital - but this must be done with the right help and support in place."
Phil McCarvill from the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS providers and commissioners, said: "The experiences of the people in this report were unacceptable and we know that everyone in the NHS will take the findings seriously."
Ruth Isden, from charity Age UK, said: "It really is a mess and it's absolutely tragic for the older people and their families who're caught in the middle."
The charity Independent Age said: "The individual cases highlighted by this report are tragic in their own right, but they are also a sign of a health service under severe strain."
The Royal College of Nursing said it was hard for staff to consistently provide high quality, safe patient care without the right resources. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-22783440 | It is said in Ireland that the only constant when it comes to the weather is change.
The country's temperate climate means rain can fall at any time of the year - most of the time it's not a problem, we just get on with it, umbrella in hand.
But there are times when a day of guaranteed sunshine, would for some, be the icing on the wedding cake.
No bride wants her big day ruined by a downpour - plans for scenic outdoor pictures hastily abandoned as the wedding party takes cover inside the hotel's dry, but drab, interior.
It's no wonder that some people are willing to put their faith in a statue of a child Jesus that is believed to guarantee good weather for special occasions.
Michael Kelly is editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper.
He said few Irish Catholic weddings are complete "without at least a nod" to the statue of the Child of Prague.
"For as long as anyone can remember, it has been considered a tradition to place the statue in the garden in the hope of gaining some divine assistance for good weather on the big day," he said.
"I was a guest at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin (Irish president's residence) a few years ago shortly before the marriage of President Mary McAleese's daughter and the president was sure that she was going to place the statue in the garden."
On a sunny day, I set off in search of such a statue.
Damien Duffy is the owner of the The Holy Shop in Belfast city centre.
Among the Mass cards and religious relics I spot the Child of Prague.
He says it's a very popular item.
"There tends to be more weddings in the summer so that is when we sell the most," he said.
"I don't know where the tradition came from but we get a lot of mothers of the bride coming in, who are more in tune with this old tradition.
"If the head breaks off the Child of Prague, it is considered to be very lucky.
"Some people bury the statue in the garden, others place it in the window of their home facing out."
The statue is not only associated by Catholics as bringing good weather.
"We also have Protestants who come into the shop to buy the Child of Prague statue, they're also buying it in the hope that it will bring them good weather for a special event," said Mr Duffy.
"It is not the only statue that is supposed to bring good luck.
"Some people bury a statue of St Joseph upside down in their garden, to help them sell their homes.
"Others plant the miraculous medal in the gardens of the house they hope to buy."
It seems it is not only brides who are willing to place their faith in the Child of Prague statue.
Ferghal Purcell is general manager of the Lough Erne Resort in County Fermanagh.
His staff are busy preparing the hotel as the host venue for the G8 Summit on 17 and 18 June.
While the leaders' of the world's most industrialised countries will be assured a warm welcome, there is no guarantee that the weather will be equally pleasant.
"We are hoping for a little divine intervention to ensure the sun shines down on the resort for the duration on the summit," he said.
"It is a great opportunity to showcase the resort in its best light and some sunshine would be the icing on the cake."
So how did a statue whose origins lie in a former Communist country become so popular with Irish Catholics?
"The statues that people have are a replica of a 16th Century statue of the child Jesus holding an orb," Mr Kelly said.
"It is housed in the Carmelite Church of Our Lady Victorious in Prague."
He said Catholicism, and particularly Irish Catholicism, is a "gritty, rooted-type of spirituality".
"Traditional Irish Catholicism is very rooted in the world around it," he said.
"I've never heard of placing the statue in the garden for anything other than good weather for a wedding.
"That being said, with the G8 Summit the best chance Ireland has had in years to show off our the natural beauty of our countryside, and good weather being in such short supply, I'm not surprised we're turning to prayer in the hope of divine intervention."
BBC Northern Ireland weather presenter, Barra Best said if "only it was that easy to guarantee good weather".
"Unfortunately Ireland's position means it is first in line to get hit by weather systems bringing unsettled weather from the Atlantic.
"That's said, let's hope the current good weather is here to stay.
"Goodness knows, after one of the coldest springs in living memory, we deserve it."
For the devoted, a little bit of faith in the statue's powers can lead to a successful outcome.
"My mum placed a statue of the Child of Prague in the window for my sister ahead of her wedding and it proved successful, so who knows..," Mr Duffy said.
"But if there are no miracles, I'm afraid I can't offer any refunds." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46944631 | Claudia Campanella, 31, works as a student support administrator at a UK university, and in her spare time she is a poo donor.
"Some of my friends think it is a bit weird or disgusting, but it doesn't worry me. It's very easy to donate and I just want to help with medical research. I'm glad to contribute."
Her faeces, teeming with "good" bugs, will be put into the bowel of a sick patient to help their poorly gut get better.
Claudia knows her donation is extremely useful - that is why she does it - but is her poo extra special?
Scientists believe some people's poo might contain an ideal mix of healing bacteria to fix gut diseases, making them super-donors.
Claudia says she wanted to become a donor because she had read that vegans might make particularly good candidates.
There's no good evidence that vegan poo is better than any other human faeces, but experts are exploring what might make a stool "super".
Dr Justin O'Sullivan is a molecular biology expert at the University of Auckland and he has been investigating the concept of super poo donors.
Our guts house millions of bugs that live inside us as a community. This diverse microbiome is unique to each us - no two are exactly the same.
Although faecal transplantation is still a relatively new field of medicine, evidence from the studies that have been done hint that some donors make the best poo for the job.
Dr O'Sullivan says: "We see transplants from super-donors achieve clinical remission rates of perhaps double the remaining average.
"Our hope is that if we can discover how this happens, then we can improve the success of faecal transplantation and even trial it for new microbiome-associated conditions like Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and asthma."
Dr Jon Landy is a consultant gastroenterologist for West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and helps to co-ordinate their faecal transplant unit.
He agrees with the idea of a super-donor, but says finding one could be tricky.
"We do not understand yet what makes a super-donor, or why," he said.
"We always make sure our donors are healthy and not carrying any disease, but we don't test all of their microbiome to see what that is like.
"These are the sorts of investigations that might need to be done."
Dr O'Sullivan's research, published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, suggests having lots of different microorganisms in your poo might be the advantage.
He says a larger number of species in the donor's stool has been shown to be one of the most significant factors influencing faecal transplantation outcome. And patients who respond well to the transplants develop a more diverse microbiome too.
But studies suggest success could also depend on how good a match the donor is for the patient.
And it might not only be which bacteria are present in the poo.
"Some cases of recurrent diarrheal infection have even been cured with transplants of filtered stool, that has had all the live bacteria filtered out but still contains DNA, viruses and other debris.
"These viruses could affect the survival and metabolic function of transplanted bacteria and other microbes," says Dr O'Sullivan.
Dr Julie McDonald, a microbiome expert at Imperial College London, has been studying how to boost the success rate of stool transplants.
Currently, most donations are used to treat a dangerous bowel condition caused by an infection called clostridium difficile.
This infection can take hold when a patient's own "good" bowel bugs have been wiped out by antibiotics. For the most vulnerable, it can be deadly.
Dr McDonald's work suggests poo transplants do a very specific job, replacing something lost in disease.
The levels could only be restored with a successful faecal transplant.
"In our lab we are trying to figure out exactly how the transplants work and we are looking at whether we even move away from giving faeces itself."
Instead of giving the patient an injection of faeces they would be given a treatment based on the faeces, which they might find less off-putting.
This might help get round the whole poo taboo that's associated with donating, she says.
Claudia wants people to "get over the mental barrier" and think about becoming a donor.
"It's really very easy to donate. It's simple to do. If you are thinking about it, check if a hospital nearby has a service and get in touch with them.
"I collect my fresh sample at home in a container that my hospital provides. Then I drop it off to the hospital as I pass by it on my way to work. It's just a little bit of effort."
Claudia's now thinking about becoming a blood donor too. "I've not got round to that yet, but it's something I might do." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-11436851 | Labour's chief whip Nick Brown will not stand for re-election - after new leader Ed Miliband asked him not to.
Mr Brown has written to Mr Miliband to confirm he would not enter the ballot, saying whoever did the job had to have the leader's confidence.
The chief whip post will be elected by MPs. Nominations close later.
Mr Brown was chief whip when Gordon Brown was prime minister. Mr Miliband has said a "new generation" is in charge of Labour.
Following his election on Saturday, he has made clear his intention to move on from the New Labour of his predecessors Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
It is understood Mr Miliband met Nick Brown earlier on Wednesday. In a letter, Mr Brown wrote: "As you know I intended to stand for election as chief whip.
"During our meeting earlier today you indicated that you wished me not to do so. The chief whip must have the full confidence of the party leader. I fully respect your wishes and will no longer be standing for the position."
Mr Miliband thanked him for his work as chief whip but wrote: "As we discussed, the election of a new leader is a time for a fresh start and that's why I am grateful to you for agreeing to step aside as chief whip."
The BBC understands that Jim Fitzpatrick, who had expressed an interest in the job, is to withdraw his name and that Ed Miliband has asked Rosie Winterton to stand for the post.
Mr Brown was long seen as one of Gordon Brown's most loyal lieutenants and Mr Miliband's actions - effectively sacking Mr Brown - will be seen as another attempt to break from the past, said BBC political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg.
He was chief whip at the start of Labour's time in office, before becoming secretary of state for agriculture and a minister in the department for work and pensions. He returned to the position after Gordon Brown became prime minister.
The Parliamentary Labour Party has approved changes allowing the chief whip to be elected separately to the rest of the shadow cabinet and to serve a full Parliament.
Nominations for the post close, alongside those for 19 other shadow cabinet posts, at 1700 BST on Wednesday. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2677131.stm | Noam Chomsky, a leading American academic who has been at the forefront of anti-war protests since the 1960s, says the Bush administration is wrong to stress military options in its dealings with Iraq.
You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for it. And the arguments that have been given for it are not convincing.
There is no debate about the importance of disarming Iraq and indeed other countries that have the capacity to use weapons of mass destruction. That is very important and everyone agrees on it.
The way to proceed with that is the way that has been done - with careful inspection procedures and efforts to ensure that the US and Britain and others will no longer carry out the policies of the past and provide Saddam with means for developing weapons of mass destruction.
It is extremely unlikely that Saddam Hussein would use nuclear weapons, which is a recipe for instant suicide - except in a desperate reaction to an attack.
So we should certainly do everything to prevent him from developing weapons of mass destruction.
I think that nobody doubts that the world would be better off if he is eliminated. But the means that are proposed are outlandish.
The means that are proposed are that we should carry out an attack which we understand may cause very severe humanitarian catastrophe and might also lead to the only real likelihood of his using weapons of mass destruction.
There is simply no historical precedent in the history of the United States or of Europe for such overwhelming opposition to a war at this stage - that is before it has even been undertaken.
The US planners are well aware that it is not a situation like the 1960s, when you can carry out aggression and violence for years with no public opposition. Now the popular consciousness has just changed.
You can declare victory over the much weaker enemy - but anything longer than that is going to arouse the public which simply is not as willing to accept aggression and violence as Europe and the United States have been in the past.
Whether there will be large-scale humanitarian catastrophes, nobody knows.
It is a reasonable possibility and sane people do not undertake actions when they know that there is reasonable possibility that it may lead to a humanitarian catastrophe unless they have enormously powerful arguments.
The arguments that they have put forward are so weak that there can be no choice about this.
American academic Noam Chomsky rose to prominence for opposing the Vietnam War and has criticised successive White House administrations.
Professor Chomsky, whose protests over the years are well known to Bostonians, acknowledges the brutality and violence of the Iraqi regime, but seems to think it will disappear of its own accord.
A bully is a bully whether he (or she) is in a schoolyard or running Iraq. Bullies back down when faced with force. It is fear, not appeals to reason, that cause them to cease and desist their behaviours.
The international community must be prepared to use force (and use it, if necessary) if Iraq is to be forced to give up its weapons of mass destruction.
Noam Chomsky speaks an awful lot of sense. If such an ardent warhorse as Winston Churchill said: "Jaw, jaw is better than war, war," then shouldn't we be more supportive of the non-violent options for this debacle?
Would Tony Blair like his son to be one of the British troops in the frontline? I really doubt it. This argument isn't about the defence of the Western democracies, Iraq can't do serious damage to us. That and the lack of human rights in Iraq is a poor excuse for a war of any scale. Haven't the Iraqi people suffered enough in the past 12 years?
Mr Chomsky is admirable in his desire for peace and love throughout the world. It is a lovely dream, but we must live in the real world. In the real world the leaders of countries like Iraq and North Korea are dangerous to their neighbours' very survival. Something must be done proactively. Peace at any cost is nothing but surrender.
I would dispute the contention of Mr Chomsky, as well as the French and Russians, that inspections will solve the problem in Iraq. Iraq could end all the tension at any time by simply surrendering the weapons it agreed to at the end of the Gulf War over a decade ago. They have not and they will not. War will surely follow.
1. Under what circumstances would Dr Chomsky support force? It is always possible to say that we need more time, information, debate. Short of a physical attack on the United States, eg, Japan and World War II, would he ever agree that a time had come when force was the only option left?
2. I recall that there was significant opposition to the United States entering what became WWII before Pearl Harbour. So the current protest is not unprecedented.
I respect Noam Chomsky's opinions and I think that he is right in many cases. However, I think that the Baathist party in Iraq is clearly a serious threat to the United States as well as Iraq's neighbours. Saddam Hussein is a ticking time bomb. He needs to be eliminated before he destabilises the whole region. If it requires military action to do it, let's do our best to prevent the civilian casualties and get Saddam out of power.
No war is good. However, the alternative to a war with Iraq would be to maintain a permanent force to ensure that the "dual use" facilities are never used to make weapons of mass destruction. Do you feel that maintaining a permanent occupying force in the Middle East is sane?
Chomsky doesn't know if Saddam Hussein will use nuclear weapons or not. His "extreme" doubt is simply his opinion. Furthermore, Chomsky assumes (irrationally) that Saddam will choose rational decisions. Who knows what value Saddam places on his own life, or the life of his people?
Action is being taken at last to remove a dangerous man from power, at last. Good job President Bush!
Once again, Chomsky cuts through to the truth of the matter. It up to Bush and Blair to convince us that violence is necessary. Neither has done so.
War is not an option, it's a failure.
With the anti-war voice getting louder these days it's important to realise that no one wants war. However, it also important to remember that there are outcomes that could be worse than war, although it may seem hard to believe.
Are there still people who feel that Iraq has not had sufficient chances to heed the UN? If so, I would like to hear how much longer we should give Saddam. People forget that he can end this entire situation by agreeing to stop playing games with the UN.
I agree with Mr Chomsky. In addition, I believe that the so-called reason for war - to prevent the proliferation of terrorism - will achieve its opposite. Such a war will create regional hatred for the "West", and inspire more people to commit terrorist acts. This in turn will require further military actions. The intended winners are obviously the military complex, the armaments corporations, and the western oil corporations. Everyone else will lose.
War with Iraq is insane with the reasons given. More and more it is evident that the situation with Iraq is used to direct the focus of US citizens away from the commitment of the current administration to degrade other laws and policies ie environmental, human rights, individual freedoms, economic and others.
It seems that a blanket of fear is pulled over the eyes of the people and anything goes in the name of national security, patriotism and support of a "war time" president.
As if leaving Saddam Hussein in power is not a perpetual humanitarian catastrophe.
Since Chomsky has no way of weighing the dangers of leaving Saddam in power, based on his own logic, how can he demand the administration does not act?
Respectfully, this is nonsense. I lived in the USSR for 30 years and know for sure: there are evil regimes that must be disarmed.
Chomsky has it in a nutshell. There are so very few scenarios in which violence let alone war, can be justified. To date, none of the arguments hold water. Empty dossiers, unsubstantiated accusations - at what point will we start to question the validity of the "intelligence" we are being fed?
Isn't it time that the people in the UK and America realised that their opinion is no longer of any interest to their respective governments. They will do as they see fit for their own resons while spinning a diversionary and deceptive web to try and bolster the public to their cause.
This has nothing to do with the welfare of the population of the UK and US it is entirely to do with corporate greed and control. It's time for a change.
Chomsky is right in that he says violence is not tolerated by the masses any more and the governments seem to be ignoring this fact. This war would (will?) make the world a much more dangerous place than it already is.
I agree with Noam Chomsky competely: the current arguments for having a war between the US and Iraq are in no way justified by the results. Yes, the oppressive dictatorship in Iraq should end, but using the threat of violence and force to conquer hate is insane. I fear there will be many innocent lives lost in the years to come if Bush continues his policy of tough talk with not much thought.
It is clear that Noam Chomsky speaks logically; how can they think of using military action when there has been no proof of Hussein's "weapons of mass destruction"? If they are found then why does war have to take place?
I cannot see why the death of thousands of people will ever solve the world's conflicts. Only through understanding and agreement through words can I see the doorway to peace. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/6923056.stm | Britain's David Millar is to join American team Slipstream Sports for 2008, according to media reports.
The 30-year-old Scot, who finished 69th in the recent Tour de France, is at the end of his current contract with Spanish team Saunier Duval.
Americans David Zabriskie and Christian Vandevelde are also joining Slipstream.
The team, which was formed in 2007, wants to compete in next year's Tour de France and operates an aggressive anti-doping policy.
Millar served a two-year drugs ban between 2004 and 2006 but is now one of the most prominent critics of cycling's doping culture.
He wore the Tour leader's yellow jersey following his time-trial victory at Futuroscope in 2000, and has also won stages in the Tour of Spain.
Exclusive Cape Epic blog ..
MTB: The best of 2007 .. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/7401417.stm | A man has just days to find a co-driver willing to take part in a charity rally which will take them a third of the way around the world in an old Fiat Panda.
Colin White from Paignton, Devon, plans to drive from London to Mongolia on the Mongol Rally, but is facing a crisis after his co-driver had to pull out.
The car, which is worth less than £100, will have to cover challenging terrain on its journey to Ulaan Baatar in July.
A new co-driver must be found by next week to ensure a visa can be obtained.
Mr White said he was hoping to find a co-driver who could take about a month off work, enjoyed the outdoors, and was well travelled.
He said someone who could speak a foreign language would be a bonus.
"Preferably Russian - that would be great because I'm learning Cyrillic, which is really difficult," Mr White told BBC News.
He expects the journey to take about three weeks - although he is allowing four for "almost certain" breakdowns.
The route crosses five mountain ranges, two deserts and, according to the official website, has "more barren and inhospitable lands than you care to shake a gear-stick at".
There are about 200 teams taking part in the rally. If Mr White can find his co-driver in time, he hopes to raise more than £2,000 for charity.
Half the money will go to one of the official UK charities in Mongolia, while the remainder of the funds would be donated to a local Devon charity. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39274411 | Certain types of driverless vehicles may not be safe, peers have warned.
Over-reliance on technology could mean drivers react slowly to taking back control of a semi-autonomous vehicle in an emergency, they said.
However, the Lords Science and Technology Committee noted that some technology could reduce accidents caused by human error.
The Department for Transport said driverless cars "have the potential to transform the way we travel."
Vehicles can be split into different levels of automation, according to industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Level 0 is a vehicle with no automation, while level 5 is fully automated.
There is a "very dangerous" problem that lies with vehicles on the midway point of this scale, peers on the Lords Science and Technology Committee said.
Vehicles at level 3 still need a driver, but can shift critical operations to the car, and back again.
The risk that the vehicle may need to hand back control to an unprepared driver in an emergency may be "too great to tolerate", the Lords Science and Technology Committee said.
Aerial, marine, public transport, including metro and rail services, space, military, warehousing, ambulance services, inspection and monitoring of resources, working in dangerous and hazardous environments (such as nuclear facilities) and the delivery of humanitarian supplies.
CAV could lead to changes in how farming is carried out in the UK, with the benefit of making the crop production system significantly more efficient. For example a vehicle that can "see" and apply herbicide to just the weeds and not to the crop.
Lorry platooning - where one HGV leads and makes the decisions for those behind that are wirelessly connected to form a road-train. The European Commission-funded Safe Road Trains for the Environment (SARTRE) has already trialled platooning on three motorway routes in northern Europe.
But - automation might lead to the loss of many jobs in the transportation sector, notably in low-wage positions such as taxi and bus drivers.
Professor Neville Stanton of the University of Southampton told the committee: "As vehicles become fully autonomous, even the most observant human driver's attention will begin to wane.
"Their mind will wander… This is particularly true if they are engaging in other activities such as reading, answering emails, engaged in conversations with passengers, watching movies or surfing the internet."
In general, research suggested drivers of automated vehicles were not as effective at dealing with emergencies as drivers of manual cars.
For example, they had been found to take six times longer to respond to emergency braking by other vehicles.
Complacency could also negatively affect other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, the Lords committee said.
The government should give priority to research into people's behaviour around autonomous vehicles, it added.
The Department for Transport said: "Automated vehicles could make our roads even safer and easier to use, as well as promising new mobility for those who cannot drive.
"We have committed over £200m to research and development and are also changing regulations to unblock barriers to this exciting new technology."
Tamzen Isacsson, SMMT director of communications, added: "Connected and autonomous cars will transform Britain's roads, dramatically increasing safety and reducing up to 25,000 serious accidents each year.
"The UK automotive industry is leading the way in developing the cars of the future which will provide further benefits to society, creating over 300,000 jobs and adding more than £50 billion to our economy." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3453285.stm | Budget airline Ryanair has said a ruling that it received illegal incentives to use a small Belgian airport is a "disaster".
The Irish airline was given discounts on landing fees and other perks to use Charleroi airport, south of Brussels.
The European Commission has now said that amounted to an illegal subsidy from the Walloon authorities.
The Commission said Ryanair would have to repay a "reasonable" sum, which it implied would be about 4m euros.
But Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, said: "We consider this decision to be a disaster for consumers, and for low-cost air fares all over Europe.
"And it is a disaster for publicly-owned airports which can no longer compete with [private] airports all over Europe."
He said the decision interfered with the free market, and that the subsidies were "not illegal".
EU transport commissioner Loyola de Palacio had earlier said: "This decision means that we are going to declare as incompatible a large part of the elements of the arrangement between Ryanair and Charleroi."
Some of the rebates for Ryanair were permissible as part of regional development support for the airport.
But some of the subsidies will have to be returned, the Commission said, because it was "incompatible with the proper functioning of the internal market".
She said the ruling would bring "greater transparency into contractual relations between airlines and airports, especially regional airports".
Other budget carriers have downplayed the impact on them if the ruling is extended to all state-owned airports offering "sweeteners" to airlines.
Ryanair is by far the most reliant on deals it has struck with regional authorities across Europe, although some other low-cost carriers have cut their own deals.
An Easyjet spokesman said: "We welcome today's comments by the European Commission clarifying the relationship between airlines and publicly-owned airports.
"While the terms of today's ruling refer specifically to Ryanair's arrangements with Charleroi Airport, it is supportive of the low-cost airline industry."
They said Easyjet had a different business model to Ryanair, and welcomed the Commission's intention to use the ruling as a basis for uniform guidelines on airport landing charges and tariffs across the EU.
"This will help clarify arrangements between airports and airlines - be they low cost, national flag carriers or charter."
Exeter-based Flybe, which like Ryanair flies to a number of small, state-owned French airports, said its own deals with airports appeared unaffected by Charleroi ruling.
It said the Commission's recognition of the need for discount deals on airport charges was "a huge win" for passengers.
Meanwhile, Belgium's Wallonia regional government will examine the situation "without delay," according to economy minister Serge Kubla.
"My recommendation will certainly be in the direction" of an appeal, he said.
A final repayment figure has yet to be declared.
But Ms de Palacio said the EU executive estimated Ryanair received 15m euros in subsidies for using Charleroi.
She said 70-75% of the aid had been authorised, leaving Ryanair facing a repayment request of 25-30% of its subsidies.
That would imply a sum of about 4.1m euros (£2.8m, $5.15m), well below the top-end figure of 7m euros some had initially feared.
Ryanair shares rose 10% following the decision.
Henk Potts of Barclays Stockbrokers said: "Other discount airlines do not have the same exposure to these secondary public airports as Ryanair does.
"I think this will result in some of their expansion plans being put on hold.
"Some profitable flights... may now become unprofitable ones, and prices on those may have to rise in the short term."
Ms de Palacio said this might affect prices "by six or eight euros per ticket".
The cut-price Irish carrier and the European Parliament had warned the ruling could force up prices, and that the Charleroi area, which has benefited from Ryanair's presence, could lose out if Ryanair now decides to cut operations from the region.
Mr O'Leary said the airline would appeal to the EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice, and warned that an adverse judgement could force Ryanair to drop some routes out of Charleroi.
The presence of Ryanair is estimated to have boosted the run-down regional economy by about £30m a year.
"We do not envisage pulling out of the airport altogether, but there may well be some reductions in flights and routes," he said.
Ryanair had also earlier warned it could mean "the end of low fares and regional development in Europe".
"One of Europe's most aggressive companies just had its wings clipped" |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-29399188/clashes-at-hong-kong-occupy-central-protest | Clashes at Hong Kong Occupy protest Jump to media player Police have used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse pro-democracy protesters outside Hong Kong's main government building, after a week of escalating tensions.
HK chief: 'End unlawful occupation' Jump to media player A mass sit-in by pro-democracy campaigners at Hong Kong's government headquarters is an "unlawful occupation", the region's chief executive warns.
Tear gas used at HK protest Jump to media player Hong Kong police have used tear gas to disperse thousands of pro-democracy protesters near the government complex, after a week of escalating tensions.
HK students break into government HQ Jump to media player At least 100 pro-democracy protesters forced their way through a police cordon to break into the government's headquarters on Friday.
'Fighting for democracy' in Hong Kong Jump to media player Thousands of students in Hong Kong have been protesting against plans by the Chinese government to restrict democratic elections.
HK students take to the streets Jump to media player Thousands of students in Hong Kong have converged on a university campus to begin a week-long boycott of classes.
Police have used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse pro-democracy protesters outside Hong Kong's main government building, after a week of escalating tensions.
Students and activists oppose Beijing's decision to rule out fully democratic elections in Hong Kong in 2017.
Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung said the demonstration was "illegal" and elections would go ahead as planned.
The BBC's Jiuliana Liu says the situation on the ground is "extremely chaotic" and that protesters show no sign of dispersing. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5036084.stm | Brand identity is something all companies worry about, particularly at World Cup time.
Billions are being spent on advertising around the world's biggest sporting event, most of it in the name of brand awareness.
One way companies are trying to attract and retain our attention is through memorable corporate slogans.
These catchphrases are designed to sum up the essence of a business in a way that will stick in the mind and trip off the tongue.
Marketing professionals say a corporate slogan must be concise and distinctive, encapsulating a basic "promise" to a company's users.
People will judge companies against their slogans and will treat them harshly if they don't live up to it, according to Interbrand's Graham Hales.
"This thing needs to be chiselled in concrete outside a firm's headquarters," he says.
"As soon as a company does not substantiate this or fails to deliver against it, then they are on the road to ruin."
Some are more sceptical about the power of a few words to excite people and to win their loyalty.
Robert Jones, from brand experts Wolff Olins, says media-literate consumers rarely take claims about what firms stand for at face value.
"If it somehow expresses the big idea of an organisation, a slogan can be very useful," he says.
"If it doesn't, consumers will see through it and discard it."
To get a sense of what makes an effective slogan, Graham Hales and Robert Jones cast their critical eyes over some well-known examples.
Simon Edwards, Cobra Beer's marketing director, lent a hand.
First used in the 1970s, the "probably the best" line has evolved in many different directions over the years.
Carlsberg drinkers are successful but enjoy laughing at themselves.
Carlsberg's slogan has resonated down the years, Graham Hales says, but has also put a bit of strain on the product.
"The contemporary ads - like probably the best flatmate - have taken the concept into new territory and taken the pressure off Carlsberg of terms of it being probably the best lager in the world."
"That is a very difficult thing to claim or substantiate."
Popularised by Prunella Scales in a series of 1990s ads, the slogan has been a footnote to Tesco's huge growth.
Tesco works hard for its customers, making their lives that bit easier in terms of cost and convenience.
Tesco has hit the mark, Simon Edwards believes.
"It includes a promise but also gets across what the company is about and gives an indication of its character," he says.
It also acts as a daily reminder of Tesco's roots and its purpose, he says.
"It serves as a good guide to Tesco staff that no matter how big the company is they need to think at the same level as every single person walking through the door."
O2 adopted the phrase in 2002 after changing its name from BT Cellnet.
O2 users are empowered by their phones and use them to do lots of different things. Phones are a symbol of their personal identity.
O2 is trying to redefine what people can do with their phones, Simon Edwards says, while hinting that it is different from its rivals.
"There is less emphasis on being a mobile phone company and more on what you can do and create.
"It is relevant and motivating. You are going to look at them and what they are offering differently."
The slogan has been in use for a couple of years.
Our drivers are concerned about performance but also look for other things in their choice of car. They want to be taken on a journey and experience something different.
"The concept goes beyond the four wheels and badge of a car and reflects more closely on how and why they create cars," says an impressed Graham Hales.
But it requires the firm to make mould-breaking vehicles.
"They can't build standard commoditised cars," he adds. "There has to be a dreamlike quality to what they produce."
Launched in 2003, the slogan was part of a plan to revitalize the business and show it was in tune with its customers.
McDonald's restaurants are places for people to hang out and have fun. Our customers live full, healthy lives.
This one leaves Simon Edwards rather cold although he admits he is not a regular McDonald's customer.
"Its aim is obviously to stress personal enjoyment although that doesn't really come through to me."
However, he says the fast-food firm is right to try and challenge negative perceptions of itself.
"If brands are to remain multinational they have to constantly look at what is expected to them."
Impact verdict: Off the menu?
Spedan Lewis adopted the price pledge - which commits the company to match the prices of local rivals on standard goods - in 1925.
What is John Lewis saying?
John Lewis offers good value and is honest and open in its relationship with shoppers.
This is strictly a price guarantee rather than an advertising slogan, although the business is closely identified with it.
Robert Jones is intrigued by this but feels slightly uncomfortable.
"It is a very peculiar phrase, very idiosyncratic.
"I think John Lewis could have a more interesting slogan which reflects their special nature as an organisation."
The slogan was first used in 1994.
What is the Army saying?
The Army can help you realise your potential and stand out from the crowd.
Robert Jones' initial reaction to this slogan is positive.
"It has two meanings - it is both an invitation and a challenge," he says.
Despite warming to the idea, he is uncertain about the impact it has had.
"It is striking but I don't think it has embedded itself in the national imagination."
This first appeared in the 1990s.
We are big with branches all over the world but we know countries inside out and are sensitive to local customs.
With one of the world's largest advertising budgets, HSBC has spent millions on spreading this message across the globe.
Yet, Robert Jones is not totally convinced about its value.
"It sounds like a boardroom corporate strategy," he says. "It doesn't sound like an invitation to consumers.
"There is no obvious reason why you should move your account to HSBC because it is the world's local bank."
The slogan succeeded the long-standing "because I'm worth it" tag in 2004 amid concerns that the former was too materialistic.
Looking good and feeling great are the most important things in life. No-one should stint on their personal appearance.
Robert Jones is sceptical about this, while acknowledging that it is very catchy and endlessly repeatable.
"It is just a verbal jingle. I don't think anybody really thinks that it means anything.
"It does get under your skin but I don't think it communicates very much."
Impact verdict: Is it worth it?
First seen in 1994, this slogan for quick-drying varnish is the one against which all others are often judged.
This product works, no questions asked.
"It encapsulates everything you need to know about the brand," says Graham Hales.
"It works from a hidden truth about the DIY market - that a lot of people are blissfully confused - and helps demystify it.
"The Ronseal promise is extremely valid and it works. It has a fantastic clarity to it."
Will World Cup push pay off? |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41422255 | The body that was responsible for the management of Grenfell Tower has had its contract to maintain social housing in Kensington and Chelsea terminated.
Councillors on Kensington and Chelsea Council unanimously voted to end the contract with Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation.
Members said the TMO "no longer has the trust of residents in the borough".
Council leader Elizabeth Campbell said 20 families affected by the fire are now in permanent accommodation.
She said a further 52 households had accepted an offer in principle.
The TMO, which was established in 1996 to manage almost 10,000 properties in the borough, has been heavily criticised by residents following the fire, on 14 June.
In August, it was stripped of its responsibility for the management of properties in the Lancaster West housing estate, including Grenfell Tower.
However, the council said it would now work with the TMO to bring its whole contract to an end.
Deputy council leader, Kim Taylor-Smith, said the contract would be ended "in an organised fashion", adding: "We are listening to residents and consulting on how they want their homes and neighbourhoods to be managed in the future."
He cited a lack of confidence in the organisation's fire safety record and a unanimous vote of no confidence from 25 residents' associations.
Council leader Elizabeth Campbell said the council had bought 120 homes, while a further 20 purchases were in the hands of solicitors and 20 more under negotiation.
She told the meeting it was "not a time for haste, this is a time for getting it right" following criticism the authority had been too slow to rehouse survivors of the disaster.
"I am confident the number of people moving in to new homes will increase dramatically in the coming months," she said.
However, there were cries of "shame" from members of the public while another person shouted: "You move in to a tower block then."
Labour councillor Robert Atkinson condemned the slow rate of progress at rehousing survivors, saying: "The council needs to be doing more and needs to be doing it faster."
He called on the government to recommit to promise an amnesty for any illegal migrants affected by the fire.
He said it was the only way for any inquiry to get to the truth.
It comes after police this month said the number of people who died in the fire may be a little lower than the previous estimate of 80.
They say the figure "may come down a little bit" because of some potential cases of fraud.
Scotland Yard also said it may consider individual as well as corporate manslaughter charges. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4243110.stm | If e-government seems to be mainly about doing tax returns online, then e-democracy is its more exciting cousin, promising to put citizens at centre stage of the political process.
E-democracy projects are springing up all over the UK. They range from online surgeries for councillors, to e-enabled citizens' panels and local government information via text message.
The BBC has joined the throng with its own Action Network website, an open forum inviting people to start campaigns in their local communities.
Doing its bit for e-democracy is the Scottish parliament which has been running an e-petitioning system for a year now.
It has begun a very new type of political debate.
The system allows ordinary citizens to raise the issues affecting them. Unlike a traditional query or complaint which often becomes buried in paperwork, the progress of the petition once it is in the hands of government must be fed back to the petitions website.
E-petitioning was the brainchild of Professor Ann McIntosh, of Napier University in Scotland, who set up the system with the help of BT.
"We wanted to show that technology can do a lot more than just support e-voting. It can actually allow participation in decision making," she told the BBC News website.
"It is an example of democracy operating from the ground up. It has improved the way people can interact with government."
While other e-democracy schemes tend to be initiated on an ad-hoc and temporary basis, the newly formed Scottish parliament was prepared to give e-petitioning a solid two-year trial.
Petitioning of the Scottish parliament is a well-established tradition. Since 1999, the public has been invited to submit petitions on any issue they chose and there have been notable successes.
One petitioner who was severely scalded at home as a child has petitioned successfully for a change to Scottish building regulations.
Any new house now built in Scotland must be fitted with a water-regulating device to ensure temperatures cannot rise to dangerous levels.
By contrast, anyone in England wishing to bring an issue to the attention of parliament must first find an MP to take up their cause.
A third of all petitions are now submitted to the Scottish parliament electronically and the e-system has distinct advantages.
Rather than just sign their names to a cause they agree with, people are invited to join an interactive forum to discuss their views in more detail, offering insights, web links and background information on a particular topic or even express opposition to an idea.
Current e-petitions cover a whole range of issues, including the threat to rural schools, affordable housing, world poverty and the Scottish haulage industry.
Each one will go before the Public Petitions Committee, and what the government does with it, which department it is sent to and which experts are consulted, are published on the website, along with any eventual changes to actual legislation.
The system has global reach and the Scottish Parliament has received comments on petitions from around 35 different countries, including a response from Bolivia on how best to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Scottish national poet Robert Burns in 2009.
Michael McMahon, convener (chair) of the Public Petitions Committee, thinks its global reach and the fact that it creates a dialogue are the two main benefits of the e-petitioning system.
"It is a two-way process at all times and anyone in the world can contribute to our government," he said.
It is not just citizens from other countries who are getting involved. An adapted version of the system is currently being adopted by Germany, which has one of the biggest parliaments in the EU.
It is also being used by Kingston-Upon-Thames and Bristol councils and is in line for a prestigious European Union e-award. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/635048.stm | "A flood of fake E-mails"
One of the most popular sites on the internet, the Yahoo web directory service, was put out of action for three hours when hackers mounted an electronic assault on it.
The firm said hackers did not penetrate its computer systems but blocked access to them with a flood of fake electronic messages.
The technique, called a denial of service attack, is like repeatedly dialling a telephone number to block all other incoming calls.
It took until late on Monday for technicians to fully restore the service after problems began at about 1345 EST (1845 GMT).
Yahoo spokeswoman Diane Hunt said: "Our first priority has been identifying what was happening and then installing the filters to enable our users to access our services."
Analysts say the fact that such a well-established company could be so vulnerable to sabotage is a sobering reminder of the unknown hazards facing internet-based businesses.
Elias Levy, chief technology officer at California-based SecurityFocus.Com, said: "It basically says nobody is safe, if Yahoo can be taken down with all the resources behind them."
Another expert said the failure suggested Yahoo was unprepared for such an attack on its systems.
The Yahoo site is among the most robust on the internet, delivering an average of 465m web pages to consumers each day.
"It's kind of silly it took so long," said James Atkinson, president and senior engineer at Granite Island Group, an internet security consultant in Massachusetts.
"The fact it went on for hours indicates a management and infrastructure problem that does not involve technology. This should have taken them off the map for 15 to 20 minutes, 30 at the most."
The FBI suffered a similar attack on its website in April last year.
The site was inaccessible for days after hackers overwhelmed its computers, also using a denial of service attack.
The latest problem also prevented Yahoo customers from accessing free e-mail accounts through the website, but it did not otherwise affect the flow of mail.
Media Metrix, which tracks visitors to websites, says Yahoo was the most popular internet site for the month of December, the latest figures available, when it recorded 36m visitors. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8760000/newsid_8765900/8765940.stm | CBBC - Newsround - What did you think of Doctor Who finale?
What did you think of Doctor Who finale?
Actor Matt Smith's first series as the Doctor is over and we want to know what you've thought about it.
Have the new Doctor Who stories kept you entertained? And what about Saturday's finale? Was it too scary, too silly, not funny enough or just right?
How do you think Matt Smith is doing as the Doctor? Are you happy with his assistant Amy Pond?
What have been your highlights of the series and what do you want to see more, or less, of in the next one?
Sorry! These comments are now closed. But there's lots more to talk about on the main Chat index.
"This is a really good song. I really love it."
"I loved the finale, it was one of my favourite episodes of Dr Who. I like Matt and David equally, they are both brilliant actors in different ways."
"I think it was brilliant, I loved it, I think it was the best one yet. He isn't as good as David Tennant though, but the finale was the best series he has done."
"I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!! It was extraordinary. I loved the part where the Doctor dances like a drunk giraffe at Amy and Rory's wedding, it's hilarious and heart-warming!! Cannot wait for the Christmas special!"
"This series was amazing, and there is NO OTHER WORD FOR IT! Well, maybe magnificent or marvellous and MANY MORE! Matt and Karen have made the BEST series yet!"
"I thought that the finale was epic. It was amazing."
"I thought the episode was OK but it wasn't what I expected. I thought it'd be a lot more thrilling but it wasn't. This series has been hard to follow. Matt Smith is good but I enjoyed the David Tennant series more."
"I loved the episode so much but it was a bit complicated."
"It was a very good episode and the storyline was good for laughs! The best bit was the end - you thought it was the end for Amy and the Doctor but it was actually the end of Amy and Leadworth!"
"It was an excellent episode although I kept saying there should be less talking and more action! I hate the new design of the Daleks, they just look plastic! Why did the BBC ruin the Daleks?"
"I thought the final of Doctor Who was a rubbish episode."
"I loved it but it was quite confusing. My favourite bit was with the fez, it was funny. I can't wait until Christmas."
"The storyline was hard to follow at first and in places it got quite complicated. I soon understood more of what was going on though and I think it was quite good but not as good as other finales. I'm looking forward to the Christmas special."
"I think it was great that Rory came back! He and Amy are so cute together. As for Matt, well, he's brill but David was better."
"I haven't got used to him yet, but I'm getting there. Matt's still doing a good job."
"I loved Doctor Who, it was AWESOME!! The script writers are very talented to produce something as fantastic as that. At first I found it hard to follow but I think it is safe to say that Matt Smith is in the building. And yes, Fez's are cool. And bowties!"
"I am the world's biggest Doctor Who fan. Matt Smith is so great and I loved it. I can't wait until the Christmas special."
"I thought it was really good and I loved it."
"It was amazing but complicated. My friend didn't understand some of it so I had to explain the whole thing to him after the episode. It was fab!"
"David Tennant will ALWAYS be the best Doctor. The finale was still good but not the best I've seen. The Daleks are getting boring now, they're in every series finale."
"I think Matt's performance as the Doctor is phenomenal. David Tennant was better but Matt is a really good actor with a lot of potential. Karen Gillan as the wonderful Amy Pond is a good match for Matt. I would also like to praise Arthur Darvill for his amazing performance as Rory. Well done to all the Doctor Who cast and crew for making an exciting series. I can't wait until the Christmas special and the new series."
"It was amazing, I never knew what would happen next."
"Amazing! It's one of the greatest episodes of all time. At first I found the storyline hard to follow, but I got it at the end. Well done Karen, Matt, Steven and all those who worked on the finale!"
"I loved it!! I think Matt is brilliant and Amy and Amelie are awesome."
"I thought it was definitely one of the best finales ever. I really thought Amy was dead but I was soo happy when she came back to life. I can't wait till Christmas."
"It was the most confusing episode ever, but I loved it! I was screaming and laughing and crying at the same time... I just can't wait for the next series... Matt Smith is actually doing better than David Tennant now."
"Wow. It was amazing and really unexpected. When the Doctor was dying I felt myself start to cry! Congratulations to Matt Smith, he's lived up to David Tennant. The only bad thing was not finding out who the 'silence' is."
"I thought it was really adventurous. I only wish it was on again soon. I thought they all did fantastically well. Great job Karen and Matt."
"I loved it! The Doctor is mad. Amy Pond is brilliant. I can't wait for the Christmas special."
"Amazing! The best series of Doctor Who ever!"
"I really enjoyed it. I thought the second part was much better than the first part though. I can't wait to see the Christmas episode and I think that Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are both really good - perhaps one of the best pairs yet!"
"I LOVED the final episode. I hope they make more like it. I LOVE MATT SMITH AND KAREN GILLAN. I really can't wait for the Christmas episode. It was complicated and that makes it awesome."
"It's a bit weird, but cool."
"It was extremely confusing and freaky, and I got a bit lost with the story, but I thought it was phenomenal! I really can't wait for the next series."
"I thought the Doctor Who finale was brilliant! It was really funny too."
"It was fantastic! I can't wait for the Christmas episode! I think all the characters in last night's episode were fabulous, but Matt and Karen were the best!"
"It was brilliant. I turned the volume up full blast and didn't move one bit."
"It was amazing! Best finale you could ever have. (David Tennant's one comes in a close 2nd). YOU RULE MATT!"
"I thought it was good because Amy finally got married and there were two Amys."
"I love Karen Gillan and Matt Smith, they are so good in the finale. Doctor Who has changed my life! Thank you Doctor and Amy Pond!"
"Doctor Who is the best TV show on TV for me at the moment. Matt Smith is brilliant at being the Doctor."
"Your finale is awesome!! I like the stone Dalek and little Amelia, but the weeping angels are the most scariest in the world!"
"I think the finale was great because it was all exciting and there was so much tension in the episode! Great work!"
"I have always been scared of Doctor Who, so I must have been crazy to watch it! My dad said my brother wasn't scared of it because he didn't understand it as much as I did. Once I got into it, I did NOT find it a BIT scary! Luckily, I understood it a lot! WELL DONE MATT AND KAREN!!!!"
"I thought the episode was fantastic. Matt and Karen at their best if I'm being honest, and I can't wait for the Christmas special."
"I think the stone Dalek was brilliantly designed!"
"I thought the finale of Doctor Who this year was absolutely amazing! I loved that whole thing with bringing Rory back, and the Pandorica, and how the Doctor flew it into the heart of the exploding TARDIS. It was brilliant! And the Doctor's dancing at Amy's wedding was genius! I think Matt has done an amazing job portraying the Doctor, I applaud him for his performance, and of course, yeah, the Doctor can buy another fez now!"
"Amazing! Steven Moffat and Matt Smith are my new heroes! Love all the scares and I've always wanted Doctor Who to be more timey wimey wibbley wobbly. Love, love, LOVE it!"
"I think that Matt was very good."
"I have always loved Dr Who. This series has kind of disappointed me though. It has seemed too complex, and harder to understand than previous series. Amy Pond has got on my nerves, seeming too typical and annoying. The only person who has impressed me has been Matt Smith. He has done a fantastic job. Well done, Matt!"
"Matt has really amazed me. At first, I was very unsure whether he could follow after David Tennant, as I was when David followed Christopher Eccleston, but the writers have made him so quirky and brilliantly played by Matt you can't help but become engrossed once more into the series. The Doctor is a lot more aware of how he is perceived by the universe now, and has stopped mourning over Rose, and Amy and Rory are brilliant with him. Slightly worried about River Song though. I love Matt, he's more amazing than I could ever have imagined. I can't get enough of it."
"I loved every second of it! I loved the fact that Rory was back, Amy FINALLY got married and the Doctor saved the day, with the help of River Song. I just can't wait for the next series!"
"It was awesome! The first part of the finale was confusing but it made sense. I've watched it like seven times over! DOCTOR WHO ROCKS!!!!!"
"I did like it. I couldn't understand it much but it was still good." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/390220.stm | A television screen you can wear is just one of the bizarre applications possible with a new breed of glowing plastics.
Called light emitting polymers, they respond to an electrical current by giving off visible radiation.
By choosing the chemical structure of the polymer, scientists at Cambridge, England, have been able to create specific compounds which give off blue, green or red light - the raw ingredients of all visible colours.
Because the plastics can be made in the form of thin films or sheets, they offer a huge range of applications. These include television or computer screens that can be rolled up and tossed in a briefcase, and cheap videophones.
Clothes made of the polymer and powered by a small battery pack could provide their own cinema show.
Camouflage, generating an image of its surroundings picked up by a camera would allow its wearer to blend perfectly into the background.
The polymers' illuminating properties were spotted 10 years ago by three researchers at Cambridge University - Jeremy Burroughes, Richard Friend and Donal Bradley.
They noticed that if they put a voltage across a thin film of an exotic plastic called PPV, the plastic gave off a pale green light.
Sensing the commercial promise of the discovery they patented it and, backed by the millionaire rock band Genesis, set up a research and development company, Cambridge Display Technology (CDT).
The earliest light emitting polymers (or LEPs) were dim and inefficient, but the latest plastics are so bright they are difficult to look at directly.
Turning the plastic film into TV and computer screens is not as easy as it may seem.
Transistorised screens are made up of tens of thousands of individual pixels, each of which lights up on command, forming the complex shifting display which creates the image we see.
Light emitting polymers are prepared from solution, so creating individual pixels is difficult.
Richard Friend and his colleagues have got round the problem by adapting a bubble jet printer to squirt tiny blobs of red, green or blue coloured plastic onto an electrode array.
The dots are just 30 micrometres across, which makes possible high resolution screens at a fraction of the cost of the screens currently available.
"At first the cost will be comparable with a high-end active-matrix screen," said Craig Cruickshank, CDT's marketing manager. "But after that the price should plummet."
Despite their potential, commercial interest in the plastics was slow at first.
Things have changed in the last decade. In June CDT was valued at �80m. That figure is expected to rise to �300m within two years as industry catches on to the fact that the future could be not just bright and orange, but any colour you want. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3216715.stm | Israel has announced it will investigate the shooting of a British peace campaigner in the Gaza Strip.
Tom Hurndall was hit in April while trying to protect women and children, according to his campaign group, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
The 22-year-old, who had lived in Manchester, had been working with the group in the town of Rafah when he was shot.
He is now in a deep coma in intensive care at the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability in Putney, south-west London, after suffering severe brain damage from which he is not expected to recover.
As a result, medical specialists, after talking to Mr Hurndall's family, have begun the process of applying to the High Court for the discontinuation of his treatment.
On Sunday, the Israeli Judge Advocate General agreed to conduct a military police investigation into the shooting.
The judge added that that the evidence provided by Mr Hurndall's parents "was taken seriously and played a crucial part in securing the investigation".
Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall from Tufnell Park, north London, have been campaigning for an inquiry and met Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in June to call for the soldier who shot him to be prosecuted.
The parents claim a report from the Israeli Defence Force is inaccurate and a "rudimentary cover-up".
They have produced their own report which they say takes into account eyewitness statements, expert opinion, photographic and video evidence and interviews with Israeli Defence Force personnel.
They say the only thing the two accounts agree on is that Tom was shot at a checkpoint.
The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office has said no timetable has been set for how long the investigation will take, but said other military police investigations have lasted about three months. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-11990180 | Christmas party-goers are the focus of a new police campaign to stay safe on a night out.
Cleveland Police, alongside Durham and Northumbria forces are handing out advice cards with space for emergency contact details.
Police advise revellers to not get too drunk, keep some money separate in case you lose your purse or wallet, stay with your friends and book a taxi home.
The campaign is part of an operation to encourage people to plan ahead. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38546415 | France says it was the subject of 24,000 cyber-attacks against defence targets last year.
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said such attacks were doubling every year and this year's presidential elections could be targeted.
He said it would be "naive" to think France was immune to the type of cyber-campaign that targeted the US election, which has been blamed on Russia.
Mr Le Drian is overseeing an overhaul of France's cyber-security operations.
Cyber-attacks in France have increased substantially in the last three years and have become a serious threat to the country's infrastructure, Mr Le Drian said.
In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, Mr Le Drian said that France "should not be naive".
He said that thousands of external attacks had been blocked, including attempts at disrupting France's drone systems.
His warning comes in the wake of a US intelligence report alleging that Russia was involved in an attempt to influence the 2016 presidential campaign.
Russia denies any involvement in cyber-attacks or hacking.
French elections in April and May this year are being carefully watched after the surprise victory of US President-elect Donald Trump, who said on Saturday that those who oppose good relations with Russia are "stupid people, or fools".
French conservative candidate Francois Fillon has said that he wants to improve relations with Russia and has been praised by Russian president Vladimir Putin. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen also favours closer relations with Russia.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated after France's socialist president, Francois Hollande, played a key role in imposing sanctions on Russia when Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Mr Hollande also suggested last year that Russia could face war crimes charges over its bombardment of the Syrian city of Aleppo.
In April 2015, a powerful cyber-attack came close to destroying French TV network TV5Monde, which was taken off air.
A group calling itself the Cyber Caliphate, linked to so-called Islamic State (IS), initially claimed responsibility. But an investigation later discovered that it was carried out by a group of Russian hackers. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/701959.stm | "The Kray name became synonymous with the criminal underworld"
"Kray helped build the family's crime empire"
"His condition deteriorated on Monday"
Infamous gangster Charlie Kray has died aged 73 in hospital on the Isle of Wight.
Friends and family including common law wife Diane Buffini were at his bedside in St Mary's Hospital. Brother Reggie had visited him earlier on Tuesday.
Charlie, an inmate at Parkhurst prison, was taken to hospital after suffering chest pains.
He was serving 12 years for his part in a drugs plot.
The elder brother of gangster twins Ronnie and Reggie, Charlie was seen as the quiet one of the trio who brought terror to London in the 1960s.
The landlord of the Blind Beggar Pub in Whitechapel Road in the East End, a notorious Kray haunt where gangster Jack 'The Hat' McVitie met his death, was said to be "very sad" about the death.
Peter Ferdinando, 62, who has run the pub for 18 years, was a friend of Ronnie and Reggie Kray and an acquaintance of Charlie.
Currently ill with pneumonia, he said through his son, Peter Jun: "Charlie Kray was no gangster, he was just a very, very nice man.
"It was a shame that towards the end of his career he got roped into drugs because he was short for cash.
"The worst of it is that he then had to spend the rest of his life in jail.
"It really is a pity because he was a decent bloke."
Sean Stanley, 17, son of Charlie's former girlfriend Judy Stanley, said the gangster was "such a nice man".
"People had an expectation of him because of his surname, but all he wanted was to have a peaceful life."
Kray was jailed for 10 years in 1969 for helping his brothers get rid of the body of McVitie.
After coming out of prison, in 1975, he lived in Benidorm and tried to build a property development business.
Police believed, though, that he was a lifelong criminal, and that he was linked variously to amphetamine production, counterfeit videotapes and fake pound coins, while underworld whispers connected him to protection rackets.
In June 1997, he was found guilty of masterminding a �39m cocaine plot and jailed for 12 years.
He was convicted of offering to supply the drug to undercover police officers and also of supplying 2kg of the drug worth �63,500.
His brother Reggie, still serving more than 30 years for the murder of McVitie, visited Charlie earlier on Tuesday after a sharp deterioration in Charlie's health.
Reggie, 66, was transferred to Parkhurst, from Wayland Prison in Norfolk, eastern England, to be closer to his brother.
Ronnie Kray died of a heart attack aged 62 in Broadmoor in 1995. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47680836 | More than 130 people were killed in an attack on a village in central Mali on Saturday by armed men wearing traditional Dogon hunters' clothing.
The attack took place while UN ambassadors were in Mali to discuss increased violence.
The Security Council mission met Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga to talk about the increased threat from jihadist fighters in central Mali.
The victims of Saturday's deadly attack were "killed with guns and machetes", a local security official told AFP news agency.
Witnesses also told AFP that nearly all the huts in the village had been burned down.
The mayor of the neighbouring village of Ouenkoro, Cheick Harouna Sankare, described the attack as a "massacre".
Clashes between Dogon hunters and semi-nomadic Fulani herders can occur over access to land and water.
The Dogon also accuse Fulanis of ties to jihadist groups. The Fulanis claim that Mali's military has armed the hunters to attack them.
Last year, hundreds of people died in clashes between Dogon hunters and members of the Fula ethnic group.
On Friday, a Mali-based al-Qaeda affiliate said it had carried out an attack last week on a military base that left more than 20 soldiers dead.
The militants said it was in response to violence against Fulani herdsmen.
One Ogossagou resident, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters news agency that Saturday's violence appeared to be in retaliation for the attack on the soldiers. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/973614.stm | The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has named an army general as the new head of the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela.
Mr Chavez said General Guaicaipuro Lameda would carry out a thorough restructuring of the company, which is the world's third biggest oil exporter.
General Lameda will be the third person appointed by Mr Chavez during his twenty-month-old administration to head the company, which he's promised to rid of corruption.
On Saturday, the main trade union in the Venezuelan oil industry called off a strike after reaching an agreement with the government on higher pay. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-47854316 | An "inspiring" alphabet book has been praised by the Isle of Man Arts Council for promoting Manx heritage in a "unique way".
Gemma Hjerth's M is for Manx Cat! features rhymes and games and includes Manx Gaelic translations.
The 38-year-old author said she produced it after being "surprised and frustrated" not to be able to find one about the island's heritage.
The arts council said it "supported the key ambitions" of its arts strategy.
Arts development manager Jane Corkill said the book "embraces art, song, and poetry as well as promoting the Isle of Man in a unique way, particularly to a younger audience".
The book features items associated with the island, including Loughtan sheep, kippers and a Manx cat, and historic locations like Castle Rushen and Tynwald Hill.
However, the Ramsey author said she had to get "creative" and use "zZZEEOOowm", signifying the sound of a TT motorbike, when finding a word for the letter z, as it is not part of the Manx Gaelic alphabet.
She added that some of the other words were inspired by her own childhood.
"I could see the Albert Tower from my bedroom window... and my first pet was a deaf, white Manx cat called Alice," she said. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6336799.stm | Schools will be urged to seek parents' permission before taking children's fingerprints, under new guidelines.
But calls to outlaw the controversial practice altogether have been rejected by the government.
The guidelines, published next month, will "encourage" schools to seek consent before taking biometric data.
The move comes after it emerged some primary schools stored children's thumb prints for computerised class registers and libraries without parental consent.
The Department for Education and Skills (DfeS) says it does not have figures for how many schools are already using biometric data.
However, a web poll by lobby group Leave Them Kids Alone, estimated that 3,500 schools had bought equipment from two DfES-approved suppliers.
Under the Data Protection Act, schools do not have to seek parental consent to take and store children's fingerprints.
But privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner will urge them to do so from next month after pressure from parents and campaign groups.
"Because this is a fairly sensitive area - because young people are going to be sharing their personal information - we are encouraging schools to adopt best practice and seek the consent of both pupil and parent," a spokesman for the Information Commissioner said.
Schools will also be reminded that they must not share the data with other organisations.
They have also been told they should only hold fingerprint and other information "as long as it necessary for the purpose for which it is being processed".
But the moves are unlikely to satisfy campaigners, who have been calling for a change in the law to ban fingerprint scanners from school premises.
The director of lobby group Action on Rights for Children, Terri Dowty, said having fingerprint technology in schools - allowing students to register, use the library and buy canteen food - was "encouraging children to be casual about their biometric data".
Her views were echoed by Phil Booth from the anti-identity card campaign group No2ID.
He said: "We're talking about social conditioning. In a school environment it will make kids less concerned about their biometric data."
But he also raised concerns about storing such information on "relatively insecure databases".
Parent activist David Clouter said a lack of guidance from the DfES and the Information Commissioner had "produced a juggernaut of companies wanting to jump on the bandwagon" to sell equipment to schools.
He had been told that having biometric data in school libraries "would encourage people to read".
"Given that children have been reading for centuries I find that hard to believe".
A technology expert, Andrew Clymer, who has campaigned to keep biometrics out of the school attended by his children, aged six and eight, said that no IT system was guaranteed to last beyond a few years.
However, a fingerprint taken from a 4-year-old child would last a lifetime.
"Security is always developed with a timeframe, but biometric data is for a lifetime.
"We would potentially be opening up the possibility that in the future kids will have their identities stolen," Mr Clymer said.
Forty-seven MPs have signed a Commons motion tabled by Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mullholland calling for consent to be required for the collection of biometric data.
Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb has also asked schools minister Jim Knight about guidance.
Mr Knight responded that biometric information about pupils should be handled in the same way as other personal data about pupils, and said it was subject to the Data Protection Act 1998.
Under the Act, schools are not obliged to seek consent from parents, but they should provide notification of their use of data to individuals involved.
The DfeS said fingerprints were used to help make school libraries, lunches and "management systems" run more smoothly and the information was stored as a "digital number stream" rather than individual prints.
Schools are also required by the Data Protection Act to tell parents about any information being held on their children and what it is being is used for.
A DfeS spokesman said: "It is important to remember that schools have always collected personal information, such as registers and home addresses, on pupils for their own smooth running.
"They are well used to handling all kinds of sensitive information to comply with data protection and confidentiality laws.
"Parents should be engaged in all aspects of school life and it is common sense for schools to talk to them about this and all issues relating to their children."
The new guidance for schools will be available from the end of March on the website of Becta, the British Educational and Communications Technology Agency. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-47615796/ukraine-election-the-clone-candidate-for-president | The 'clone' candidate for president? Jump to media player Two of the candidates in next month's Ukrainian presidential election have the same surname and initials.
The comedian who could be president Jump to media player Polls suggest comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy is a frontrunner in Ukraine's presidential election.
The women singing to drown out explosions Jump to media player A group of women have formed a choir, which helps them forget their troubles in eastern Ukraine's conflict zone.
Being 17: The life of a teenager in Ukraine Jump to media player We spend a day with Ivan as he shows us what it's like being 17 in Kiev.
Ukraine election: The 'clone' candidate for president?
Two of the candidates in next month's Ukrainian presidential election have the same surname and initials.
The widespread suspicion is that Yuriy V Tymoshenko is what's known as a clone candidate, planted maliciously to steal votes from confused people who really want to vote for the former prime minister, Yulia V Tymoshenko.
Jonah Fisher reports from Kiev. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1567462.stm | Inmates at a London women's prison are continuing to suffer neglect in the face of the pressure to cut costs by the Prison Service.
The findings come in the latest report by Sir David Ramsbotham, the Chief Inspector of Prisons who retired in July.
The report found that Holloway Prison, in north London, has made significant improvements in a number of areas but was still "failing" many prisoners.
Sir David said the prison's management and staff were struggling to meet the cost targets placed on them by their "political and Prison Service masters".
There was praise for the "positive and creative thinking" shown by staff at the jail which houses 500 prisoners at a cost of �40,500 per inmate a year to run.
Prison governor David Lancaster said he believed the courts were sending too many women to jail.
He said they would be better catered for in secure units or special hospitals.
The operational manager for women's prisons, Niall Clifford, said he was having to make savings of between �80m and �100m among the 16 prisons under his remit.
"Holloway is not being treated any differently to any other establishment, in fact it is being treated more favourably in some respects."
Mr Clifford said that recruiting nurses for the prison's health centre was a problem and that �40,000 a month was being spent on agency personnel.
Inmate Gillian Bryant, who was convicted of robbing a petrol station, said: "They definitely need new doctors.
"You put in for an appointment and it can take up to four weeks to be seen."
Sarah O'Shea, who is serving a sentence for cocaine smuggling, said: "I thought I was streetwise until I came in here - it's really opened my eyes."
She said that with the help of staff she had gained qualifications and certificates in several subjects including anger management and assertiveness. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/2190696.stm | A-levels are not an accurate test of a student's abilities and potential, academics have said.
Students would need to be tested for 40 hours for each subject for universities to have a true picture of their abilities, according to academics from King's College, London.
The release of their findings coincides with a renewed debate about exam results and whether standards are slipping.
Professor Dylan William and Professor Paul Black believe standards have been "broadly maintained".
But they say universities need other evidence of a student's abilities besides A-level grades.
Professor William says grades might be improving because students are working harder and schools are increasingly "teaching to the test".
He said: "Whether standards are going up or down is not the issue - standards have been broadly maintained.
"The problem is we just don't know how accurate examination grades are for individual students, and they are of only limited use as predictors of future performance."
The academics said research in the 1970s showed A-levels were only accurate to plus or minus a grade.
They say the only way to make A-levels accurate to a 10th of a grade would be to increase the amount of exams students had to take to about 40 hours for each subject.
Prof William said this would not be popular with students so instead people would have to start trusting the judgements of teachers and university admissions tutors.
Some universities, including Kings College, use aptitude tests to gauge potential.
They are routinely used at American universities.
Professor William said although candidates for medicine at Kings usually have to get two As and a B, the college had accepted nine students from state schools who had Cs and Ds but scored well in tests on science reasoning.
This is an approach advocated by the Higher Education Minster Margaret Hodge, who has said universities should consider lowering their A-level requirements for students from working-class backgrounds.
In a speech in April, she said A-levels were poor at measuring a student's potential.
At Bristol University, admissions tutors look at the average A-level scores of children at a candidate's school before awarding a place.
A pupil who had done much better than their school friends would be given a place even if their A-level results did not match those of other people previously accepted by Bristol.
The use of aptitude tests to spot talented students is advocated by Peter Lampl, the philanthropist behind the Sutton Trust educational charity.
He says more universities should use them to open their doors to bright children from low-income families.
"This annual row is likely to cast a shadow over their hard-won achievements" |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3715907.stm | Ukraine has won the 2004 Eurovision song contest in Istanbul, Turkey - only the second time the country has taken part in the competition.
Ruslana, a successful singer, producer, dancer and composer in her home country, won for her song Wild Dance.
Contest debutants Serbia and Montenegro were second, with Greece third. The UK's James Fox took 16th spot.
More than 100 million viewers were expected to watch the TV coverage of the event, now in its 49th year.
Thirty-six member countries of the European Broadcasting Union voted in the contest, including 12 countries eliminated from the final in earlier rounds.
Last year the event was won by Turkey's Sertab Erener with the UK coming last, receiving no points.
James Fox's 29 points was a distinct improvement on the zero points received by Jemini in 2003.
Ruslana's winning song mixed folk music with a troupe of leather-clad female dancers.
Her song was inspired by the folk music and dances of highlanders in the Carpathian mountains and included traditional instruments, a fast dance routine mixed with acrobatic moves, as well as flamboyant costumes.
Greece's Sakis Rouvas had been the favourite to win the contest.
The success of Zeljko Joksimovic and the Ad Hoc Orchestra from Serbia and Montenegro was a major surprise - it was the country's first-ever performance at the competition.
British singer Lisa Andreas, 16, took joint fifth place with Sweden, performing a song for Cyprus. Her mother was born on the island.
The host country Turkey took fourth spot in the competition.
As is traditional with the Eurovision song contest, neighbours often voted for each other with the Balkan countries giving each other a major share of the votes.
British TV host Terry Wogan, who was commenting on the contest for the BBC, said the "biased" voting was worse than ever.
He said: "Someone has got to stop this. The European Broadcasting Union has to take a hand."
Ireland, who traditionally do well at Eurovision, were in 23rd position, only one place higher than Norway who came last.
The 2005 event will now be held in Ukraine.
"All voting was by European citizens over the telephone"
Can you write a winning song? |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7649074.stm | Singer Will Young has been invited to appear on BBC political programme Question Time after saying he was a fan of the show.
After revealing to Radio 5 Live's Simon Mayo that he would love to go on the show, programme editor Gill Penlington rang in to offer him an invitation.
Penlington said she would be delighted to have Young on the show "at his nearest possible convenience".
The 29-year-old singer has a politics degree from the University of Exeter.
Young and Mayo had been discussing whether the singer had any plans to release a political song given his educational background.
"I don't think so because I don't see myself as an expert - I'm just a singer," Young said.
"Although I'd love to go on something like Question Time, I do have opinions on it, but that's not my job description."
Fifteen minutes later, Penlington made the surprise call making the invitation.
When asked how much she would pay Young for his appearance, Penlington said he would be paid "precisely zero" because of the credit crunch.
The singer is currently promoting his new album, Let It Go.
A full interview with Will Young will be published on the BBC News website on Friday 3 October. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-47419418 | The University of Surrey has offered voluntary redundancy to all staff as it seeks to make £15m cuts.
Vice chancellor Max Lu said universities faced "unprecedented pressures", including Brexit and a possible reduction in tuition fees.
Staffing levels will be reduced and £5m could be saved by "not filling all our existing vacancies", he said.
A spokesman refused to say how many jobs were at risk, but said compulsory redundancies could not be ruled out.
Mr Lu said: "Some of the main financial challenges include reduced income due to Brexit and an ever more competitive student recruitment environment, significantly increasing pension costs and a national review of tuition fee levels."
A government-commissioned review, led by Philip Augar, is expected to recommend a reduction in tuition fees to £7,500.
Mr Lu added: "Our university also faces the not inconsiderable impact of a fall in our national league table positions."
A spokesman said "the university sector as a whole is facing unprecedented challenges," adding: "These challenges mean that, without action, our expenditure is forecast to exceed our income."
The spokesman said: "We are taking appropriate and considered actions across the university in order to balance income and expenditure, while continuing to achieve our strategic goals, and to prioritise our focus on providing the best possible teaching experience for our students." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24957090 | Running noses and green phlegm do not mean patients need antibiotics, say doctors and public health experts.
It was described as a "prevailing myth" that the drugs were needed to treat such infections.
Public Health England and the Royal College of General Practitioners said the symptoms were often caused by viruses.
And the use of antibiotics was leading to resistance, they said.
Public Health England said its own research showed that 40% of people thought antibiotics would help a cough if the phlegm was green, while very few thought it would make a difference to clear-coloured phlegm.
Dr Cliodna McNulty, from the organisation, said: "It's a prevailing myth that anyone with green phlegm or snot needs a course of antibiotics to get better.
"Most of the infections that generate lots of phlegm and snot are viral illnesses and will get better on their own although you can expect to feel pretty poorly for a few weeks.
"The problems of antibiotic resistance are growing. Everyone can help by not using antibiotics for the treatment of uncomplicated infections."
Taking antibiotics affects the trillions of bacteria that naturally live in the human body and can lead to resistance.
Dr Maureen Baker, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said: "Overuse of antibiotics is a serious public health concern.
"Infections adapt to antibiotics used to kill them and can ultimately make treatment ineffective so it's crucial that antibiotics are used appropriately."
The green colour in phlegm and snot is the result of a protein made by the immune system to fight infection.
The latest advice comes on European Antibiotics Awareness Day. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4400148.stm | Sony's music arm has been accused of using the tactics of virus writers to stop its CDs being illegally copied.
One copy protection system analysed by coder Mark Russinovich uses cloaked files to hide deep inside Windows.
The difficult uninstallation process left Mr Russinovich saying that Sony's anti-piracy efforts had gone "too far".
In response to criticism, Sony BMG said it would provide tools to users and security firms that would reveal the hidden files.
Mr Russinovich, a renowned Windows programming expert, came across the Sony BMG anti-piracy system when performing a scan of his computer with a utility he co-created that spots so-called rootkits.
Rootkits are starting to be used by a small number of computer virus writers because they allow malicious code to be inserted deep inside the Windows operating system, meaning that it will not be spotted by most anti-virus scanners.
After extensive analysis Mr Russinovich realised that the "cloaked" software had been installed when he first listened to the CD album Get Right With the Man CD by country rockers Van Zant.
Although resembling a virus, Mr Russinovich found the hidden files had come from an anti-copying system called Extended Copy Protection (XCP) developed by UK software company First 4 Internet.
About 20 titles are thought to be using the XCP software and in May 2005 Sony said more than two million discs had been shipped using the technology. XCP is just one of several anti-piracy systems Sony is trying.
XCP only allows three copies of an album to be made and only allows the CD to be listened to on a computer via a proprietary media player. The hidden files are installed alongside the media player.
The CD plays normally on a hi-fi system and the copy protection does not affect computers running on Apple Mac or Linux operating systems.
Ridding his computer of XCP proved difficult and briefly crippled Mr Russinovich's CD player.
Writing in his blog about the incident, he said: "Not only had Sony put software on my system that uses techniques commonly used by malware to mask its presence, the software is poorly written and provides no means for uninstall."
Mr Russinovich said the licence agreement that he accepted when he first listened to the CD made no mention of the fact that he could not uninstall the program or of the significant changes it made to his computer.
If Sony BMG released XCP copy-protected CDs in the UK this oversight could leave the music company open to prosecution under the Computer Misuse Act because it made "unauthorised" changes to a machine, said net law expert Nick Lockett.
"There would be no problem if there's a big screen coming up saying as part of the anti-piracy measures this CD will amend your operating system," he said.
Mr Lockett added that Sony might be inadvertently provoking piracy as consumers irritated by the anti-copying system rip the tracks to get around the restrictions.
Mr Russinovich feared that diligent users trying to keep their systems clean of viruses could stumble across the hidden XCP files, delete them and inadvertently cripple their computer.
His worries were echoed by Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at Finnish security firm F-Secure, who has been looking into XCP since he first came across it in late September.
"What we are scared of is when we find a new virus written by someone that relies on the fact that this [XCP] software is running on tens of thousands of computers around the world," he said. "The rootkit would hide that virus from pretty much any anti-virus program out there."
Mathew Gilliat-Smith, chief executive of First 4 Internet, said the techniques used to hide XCP were used by many other programs and added that there was no evidence that viruses were being written that took advantage of XCP.
He said the debate on the net sparked by Mr Russinovich's work had prompted the company to release information to anti-virus companies to help them correctly spot the hidden XCP files. Consumers can also contact Sony BMG for the patch to unveil, rather than remove, the hidden files.
"It's clearly packaged on the CD that its copy-protected," he said.
A spokesman for Sony BMG said the licence agreement was explicit about what was being installed and how to go about removing it. It referred technical questions to First 4 Internet.
Mr Gilliat-Smith said Mr Russinovich had problems removing XCP because he tried to do it manually something that was not a "recommended action". Instead, said Mr Gilliat-Smith, he should have contacted Sony BMG which gives consumers advice about how to remove the software.
Getting the software removed involves filling in a form on the Sony website, visiting a unique URL and agreeing to have another program downloaded on to a user's PC that then does the uninstallation.
He added that First 4 Internet had had no complaints about XCP since it started being used eight months ago. He also added that the latest generation of XCP no longer used cloaked files to do its job.
"We've moved away from using that sort of methodology," he said. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-23883970/david-cameron-syria-is-not-like-iraq | Cameron: 'This is not like Iraq' Jump to media player A Commons debate on intervention in Syria is under way ahead of a vote on the the UK's response to a chemical attack near Damascus.
'Evidence should precede decision' Jump to media player The Labour leader responds to a government motion on the principle of military intervention in the light of the alleged chemical attack in Syria.
'Action will punish Syrian regime' Jump to media player A Commons debate on intervention in Syria is under way ahead of a vote on the the UK's response to a chemical attack near Damascus.
How crisis spread: BBC in Damascus Jump to media player As international action on Syria becomes more likely, countries in the region are watching with concern - and taking different sides.
Inspectors out of Syria by Saturday Jump to media player A UN team of inspectors investigating an apparent poison gas attack in Syria will leave the country by Saturday morning said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Syria military action 'grave decision' Jump to media player MPs will debate military action in Syria in principle only, after the government dropped plans for an early vote on British intervention.
MPs debate Syria - but no action yet Jump to media player MPs are set to debate military action in Syria in principle only, after the government dropped plans for a speedy vote on British intervention.
A House of Commons debate on intervention in Syria is under way ahead of a vote on the the UK's response to a chemical attack near Damascus.
MPs will vote on the "principle" of launching military action against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs: "I am deeply mindful of the lessons of previous conflicts... but this is not like Iraq." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5402266.stm | Scientists in India have developed a way to extract juice effectively for the first time from a berry which is thought to be good for the heart.
Sea buckthorn is a known source of cholesterol-lowering compounds which could prevent clogging of the arteries.
It is used in Tibet, Mongolia, China and Russia for health drinks.
But the researchers, writing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, report current extraction methods produce juice of poor quality.
A team at the Regional Research Laboratory in Trivandrum have solved the problem by developing an extraction technique which uses continuous high speed centrifugation to separate the juice from the solid sludge.
The process was shown to retain a significant proportion of the key anti-oxidant chemicals which scientists believe can aid the circulatory system by blocking the action of harmful LDL cholesterol.
When LDL cholesterol is oxidized, it sticks to the lining of blood vessels, causing them to clog up.
Analysis showed that the extracted juice contained more than 40% of the original polyphenol content from the whole berry, along with 50% of the original flavonoids and 70% of the vitamin C.
Sara Stanner, a nutritionist at the British Heart Foundation, said: "The antioxidants in sea buckthorn juice and pulp may protect the heart by reducing harmful chemicals in the blood.
"The pulp oil also contains unsaturated fatty acids and plant sterols, which could help to reduce blood cholesterol levels.
"In addition, there is evidence that sea buckthorn juice might help to protect 'bad' cholesterol from oxidation, a process which is involved in the development of coronary heart disease.
"The oil has also been shown to have a possible benefit in reducing the tendency of blood to clot but more research is needed to clarify whether adding it to foods can have any real impact on reducing risk of heart disease."
Two companies have shown interest in the process including one based in Mongolia. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-35837271 | A rock carving of Merlin at a coastal cave reputedly linked to the legend of King Arthur has been branded a "Disneyfication" of the site.
English Heritage, which commissioned the artwork, has been accused of "commercialising" Tintagel Castle, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur.
Cornwall councillor Bert Biscoe has written to the charity to complain about the "comic-book face".
It said the carving would help visitors understand the history of the site.
The work sits at the mouth of the so-called Merlin's Cave, where, according to legend, the wizard took Arthur as a baby to keep him safe.
In his letter, independent councillor Mr Biscoe also complained about a proposed 8ft (2.45m) model of an Arthurian knight which is set to be bolted into rocks near the castle.
"This is one of the most heavily designated pieces of landscape and archaeology in Britain," he said.
"If we start carving comic book characters into the geology, where do we stop? This is not Disneyland, it's Cornwall."
The carving was finished in February by local craftsman Peter Graham who described the work as "a temporary intervention" which would be eroded by the weather.
Mr Graham hoped the carving would spark people's imaginations and said he had received "overwhelming support" from visitors to the site.
English Heritage said plans for its "outdoor interpretation scheme" received planning permission last year, and include plans for "several artistic installations inspired by the legends of Merlin, King Arthur and Tristan and Iseult".
"These legends have all had a profound impact on shaping Tintagel, and will help visitors to understand how the site grew and developed over the centuries," it said. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-12087095 | Nottinghamshire's 265 police community support officers (PCSOs) cost the county £7m in wages in 2009/2010, it has emerged.
The figure is up from £354,000 in 2008/2009, according to a Freedom of Information request (FoI) by the Press Association.
In Nottingham PCSOs detected just six crimes but senior officers insisted their role was community-based prevention and not detection.
Deputy Chief Constable Chris Eyre said: "They can deal with the problems that the community tell us are their priorities, whether it be speeding, littering, youth nuisance, disorder, noise - they're the things that we focus them on."
He added that some crimes were detected by PCSOs but "that's not a priority".
"They're there to deal with community problems, that are community priorities," said Mr Eyre.
PCSOs do not have the full powers of regular police officers.
In Leicestershire the 237 PCSOs cost slightly more than £5m.
PCSO Phil Iley, Leicestershire Police's volunteers policy development manager, said: "Our PCSO colleagues are a very valuable part of neighbourhood policing, tackling the crime and anti-social behaviour that matters most to people locally." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-25141114 | An explorer is attempting to become the first person to walk the length of the River Nile.
It will see Levison Wood, 31, set out from the highlands of Rwanda on Sunday on the start of a 4,250-mile journey that is expected to take 12 months.
Mr Wood, originally from Forsbrook in Staffordshire but now living in London, is a former captain in the Parachute Regiment.
He now works as an expedition leader and photojournalist.
"I've been travelling there [to Africa] for the past 10 to 15 years on and off," he said.
"So for me it's been a life-long passion and this is the culmination of that and an opportunity to explore Africa in all its glory."
Mr Wood will be initially following the route of the longer White Nile, until it joins the Blue Nile at Khartoum in Sudan.
While the source of the White Nile is disputed, Mr Wood will start in Rwanda and travel through six countries and some of the most remote locations on earth.
The challenge has been described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as "one of the last world firsts, demonstrating a very British determination and fortitude that has marked many of the great expeditions in Africa".
Mr Wood said he had been inspired by some of the British explorers of the 19th Century, as well as Ed Stafford, who became the first man to walk the length of the Amazon in 2010.
If all goes to plan, Mr Wood expects to spend Christmas Day on the edge of a swamp on the Tanzania border.
He has to date travelled and worked in some 80 countries, led the first successful walk across Madagascar and climbed several peaks for the first time.
His expeditions have often led him into some of the most dangerous parts of the world - even being held by local militia in Kurdistan, close to the border with Iran.
However, he said this would be by far his greatest challenge.
"This is two years in the planning now, so it's a lot of research, a lot of preparation.
"I've spent a lot of time going to the countries along the way to try and understand the culture, religion, tribal politics and some of the issues and dangers."
Mr Wood's parents equated the journey to climbing Everest.
The challenge will be filmed for a four-part documentary on Channel Four and he hopes to raise money for charity. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8231495.stm | Television chef Clarissa Dickson-Wright and racehorse trainer Sir Mark Prescott have escaped punishment after pleading guilty to hunting offences.
Dickson-Wright of Inveresk, Midlothian, and Prescott, of Newmarket, Suffolk, admitted attending two hare coursing events in North Yorkshire in 2007.
Both received an absolute discharge at Scarborough Magistrates' Court.
The private prosecution was brought by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
Dickson-Wright, a former barrister, rose to fame in the BBC cookery programme Two Fat Ladies.
Prescott is a prolific trainer of winners from his Newmarket yard.
Neither appeared in person at the court.
The case centred around a hare coursing event near Nunnington on 2 March 2007 and another the next day near Amotherby.
Hare coursing, which sees hares pursued by greyhounds, was outlawed at the same time as fox hunting with hounds in 2004.
The court heard the events were organised by the Yorkshire Greyhound Field Trialling Club (YGFTC) and involved 46 trials, each involving two muzzled dogs chasing hares over the two days.
In July three-times champion jumps trainer Peter Easterby and Major John Shaw were found guilty of permitting land to be used for hare coursing at the same event.
The court heard how Dickson-Wright and Prescott were both invited to the event by the YGFTC, which believed it was running a legal event.
John Cooper, prosecuting for the IFAW, said: "During the course of both these events, the dogs were muzzled but that does not stop the damage and harm to the wildlife they chase and harry, simply because they are muzzled."
District Judge Kristina Harrison described the case as "odd" and said she believed the YGFTC had tried to stay within the law when organising the event.
She said her judgement was "not intended to condone hare coursing" and that any future offences would be dealt with "most seriously". |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37391144 | On Friday a jury at Manchester Crown Court found Mohammed Syeedy guilty of murdering a 71-year-old imam - because he wasn't Muslim enough.
This is not just a crime that shocked the Muslim community in Rochdale where Jalal Uddin was bludgeoned to death.
It's also the second in less than a year in which one Muslim has killed another for not being Muslim enough - a form of sectarianism that we haven't really noticed in the UK.
Syeedy drove the getaway car for his alleged accomplice, Mohammed Kadir, who the trial heard had wielded the hammer in a children's park. Mr Kadir fled the UK to Turkey - and is now probably in Syria.
Why Syeedy didn't follow is a mystery - he'd recently renewed his passport and both were shown in court to be supporters of the self-styled Islamic State group.
Everyone I spoke to in Rochdale said Mr Uddin was a kind man who had lived a simple life, providing religious education to the young and spiritual support to the sick, elderly and grieving.
But for Syeedy and his alleged partner, the imam was guilty of a crime against God.
Media captionWhy was this imam targeted?
But Syeedy didn't agree that this was spiritual - he thought it was akin to black magic.
He adhered to a violent with-us-or-against-us ideology known as "takfirism" - it's basically the belief that one has the right to declare another Muslim not to be a Muslim.
Its followers, be they supporters of the self-styled Islamic State group, al-Qaeda or another AK-47-toting outfit, believe they have the right to be the judge, jury and executioner of others, according to their interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
So if you don't agree with their way of being a Muslim, you've abandoned the faith. And if you've abandoned the faith, the penalty is death.
This horrible crime may read like an isolated bizarre incident, but it's not.
It's the second murder in a year in the UK of someone who identifies themselves as a Muslim, by another Muslim, for purely sectarian reasons.
Shopkeeper Asad Shah was the first. He was killed in different circumstances - he belonged to a particular sect that other Muslims don't regard as being actually Islamic.
His killer was so incensed by what the shopkeeper had put online that he got in his car in Bradford, drove 200 miles to Glasgow, and stabbed him to death.
"The murder in Rochdale is a reflection of what I believe has been happening in the UK and around the world - there is a civil war within Islam right now," says Haras Rafiq of the Quilliam Foundation counter-extremism think tank.
"There are people who have been carrying out the blasphemy law and killing people who they deem not to be Muslim enough. This is something that I think we are going to see more of."
Jalal Uddin murder: Why did a Muslim student help kill an imam? |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42746982 | The health of children in England is being harmed by deepening public sector cuts and "disjointed" government policies, a report has found.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said the government had failed to improve care in a number of "fundamental areas", such as by banning junk food advertising.
It said the government had not made the same strides as in Wales and Scotland.
The government said "world-leading plans" for child health were in place.
But the RCPCH called for more to be done, including a bigger focus on preventive measures, which had faced "destructive" reductions.
Professor Neena Modi, president of the RCPCH, called for "much bolder" policies, adding: "It is no good only throwing money at treating established problems.
"There must be far better investment in prevention, which will reap immeasurable long term benefits."
The RCPCH tracked the progress made by governments in England, Wales and Scotland against the different recommendations it set the countries last year in its State of Child Health report.
At the time, it found child health in the UK was falling behind that of many other European countries.
In its follow-up report, the RCPCH said central government had made less progress on its recommendations compared with its counterparts in Wales and Scotland.
It found that England had made progress in some areas - including the launch of a digital child health strategy, a new tobacco control plan and the implementation of the sugar tax.
However, the organisation said the health and wellbeing of children in the country remained "largely unchanged" and no improvement had been made in a number of "fundamental areas", including on banning junk food advertising and investing in child health research.
England was also the only country that had a worsened performance against one of its recommendations - to freeze public health cuts.
The RCPCH said data (from a King's Fund think tank analysis) showed councils would spend only £2.52bn on public health services in 2017-18 compared with £2.60bn the previous year.
Prof Russell Viner, RCPCH officer for health promotion, said: "Child health isn't being given the political attention it deserves in Westminster, which is disappointing given the real commitments from the Scottish and Welsh governments."
The RCPCH report points to Scotland passing its Child Poverty Act and Wales opening a centre for child health research, as examples of the progress the countries were making.
Izzi Seccombe, from the Local Government Association, said: "Public health services play a vital role in improving the health of children, young people and adults, reducing the need for treatment later down the line and easing the pressure on the NHS.
"Unless this is properly funded, it will put services at risk which are vital in supporting the health and development of babies, children and families."
Labour's shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said: "This report is a stark reminder that there are over two million children with health-related vulnerabilities being let down by an underfunded and overstretched health system."
A government official said: "There is always more to do, but we have world-leading plans in place to safeguard child health by combating obesity, improving mental health and vaccinating against some of the world's deadliest diseases.
"In the past year, both teen pregnancy and child mortality have both fallen to all-time lows, and our soft drinks levy is already funding additional breakfast clubs and sports." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/1779176.stm | Concerns are being raised about the long-term effects of the new generation of anti-depressants, such as Prozac.
The Scottish Association for Mental Health says reliable research has only been conducted for a six-to-10 week period and many of their members are experiencing serious side-effects and withdrawal symptoms.
But this is disputed by Prozac's makers, who insist the drug - when taken correctly - is totally safe.
Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRI's) were launched in the 1980s as the non-addictive alternative to Valium.
Prozac was initially approved for the treatment of depression in Belgium in 1986 and in the United States in 1987.
Since then, it has been approved and marketed in more than 90 countries and is said to be prescribed to more than 40 million people.
Prescription of SSRI's has risen five-fold in the past 10 years but the association says increasing numbers of patients are experiencing adverse symptoms.
It also believes that existing studies on the long-term effects of taking SSRI's cannot be relied upon.
But Prozac's makers, Eli Lilley, say on their website: "For more than 14 years, the safety and effectiveness of Prozac continue to be demonstrated worldwide through scores of clinical studies and patient success stories.
"The safety and effectiveness of Prozac have been thoroughly studied in clinical trials with more than 11,000 patients.
"There have been more than 3,500 publications on Prozac in medical/scientific journals."
It goes on to warn of side-effects and what action to take if they occur.
However, tests using Lustral, a very similar medicine, suggests that the Prozac "family" of drugs, known as SSRIs, may have dangerous side-effects.
There have long been concerns that the drug is prescribed to patients who suffer only mild symptoms of depression, and who are not clinically ill.
Research carried out two years ago by the North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine found that two out of 20 healthy volunteers on Lustral became dangerously suicidal.
Within the past year GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Seroxat, has changed the labelling on its product to warn patients that they can experience withdrawal effects if they come off it too quickly.
"One in five of us will suffer from depression at some point" |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10594067 | A total solar eclipse has crossed the South Pacific briefly plunging swathes of ocean into darkness.
The eclipse was visible along an 11,000km arc, which included Easter Island.
Thousands of people travelled to the remote Chilean island to watch the spectacle. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18852163 | Residents of Japan's flood-hit areas are being allowed to return home after record rainfall that left thousands cut off and at least 26 people dead.
Clean-up efforts have also started after evacuation orders were lifted in the southern island of Kyushu.
A year's worth of rain fell in some areas over the weekend, causing landslides.
Troops are airlifting supplies to those trapped in mountainous areas and seeking at least six missing people.
Residents have started to clean up the mud and debris from their homes, with felled trees and debris also being removed from the roads.
"We are stepping up efforts to remove rubble as roads remain covered with mud at many points," Masatatsu Minoda, an official from Kumamoto prefecture, was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.
The weather agency says the worst is over but it warns that even a small amount of rainfall could trigger further landslides, says the BBC's Mariko Oi in Tokyo.
More rain and thunderstorms were being forecast for some areas, reports said.
On Sunday officials said 26 people were known to have died in Kumamoto, Oita and Fukuoka prefectures. Reports said most of the victims were elderly people in their 70s and 80s.
Evacuation orders were issued on Saturday for a quarter of a million people. The orders were lifted in most areas on Sunday as the rain stopped and many people were allowed to return to their homes.
Heavy rain has also caused flooding in parts of Japan's historic capital, Kyoto, on the main island of Honshu.
Are you in Japan? Have you been affected by the floods? You can send us your experiences using the form below. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29665829 | The discovery of a tiny species of human 10 years ago has transformed theories of human evolution.
The claim is made by Prof Richard Roberts who was among those to have published details of the "Hobbit".
The early human was thought to have lived as recently as 20,000 years ago and so walked the Earth at the same time as our species.
The Hobbit's discovery confirmed the view that the Earth was once populated by many species of human.
The discovery of a completely different species of human put paid to the cosy status quo in one fell swoop".
It's a far cry from the old view of a linear progression from knuckle-dragging ape-like creatures to upright modern people.
Prof Roberts says the discovery of a completely different species of human on the Indonesian Island of Flores that lived until relatively recently, "put paid to this cosy status quo in one fell swoop".
There are many puzzles that remain about the Hobbit. The female skeleton was 1m (3ft) high and was a very primitive form of human. Her brain was about the size of a chimpanzee, yet there is evidence that she used stone tools.
Dr Henry Gee, the manuscript editor who decided to publish the paper in the journal Nature, said that it gradually dawned on him just how important the discovery was.
"It is the biggest paper I have been involved with," he told BBC News.
"It surpassed anything else I'd been involved with because it just kept running. People kept on talking about it and it became part of popular culture and a sign of a new view of anthropology. The days of the old linear models of anthropology were gone.
The publication of the discovery on the Indonesian Island of Flores in October 2004, caused a sensation. The news that another species of human walked among us until relatively recently stunned the world.
There were even questions about whether the Hobbit, named Homo floresiensis, still existed somewhere on the island. Perhaps there were other species of humans in other very remote parts of the world yet to be discovered?
The notion that our species, Homo sapiens, was the only species of human on the planet was for the first time in thousands of years in doubt. Perhaps tales of yetis, giants and leprechauns have a basis from our distant evolutionary past.
As it turned out no more fossilised remains of the Hobbit have been unearthed since then, let alone the discovery of creatures from folklore. But those involved in the field are convinced that much more is yet to come, according to Prof Roberts.
"The discovery of the Hobbit has opened up the credible possibility of other undiscovered human species being 'out there', perhaps buried metres underground like the Hobbit, or tucked away in a museum drawer, unrecognised for what it truly is - another new species, but misidentified as an 'unusual' modern human or an earlier species of human well-known to science," he told BBC News.
"I think the discovery of the Hobbit helped create an atmosphere in which it's okay to expect the unexpected, and that we shouldn't get fooled into thinking that we have all the answers, ever."
The Hobbit's existence on Flores is still a complete mystery. How did it get there? Flores is east of the so-called Wallace Line which demarcates islands that have rarely - if ever - been connected via land bridges to the Asian mainland. So did this early, very primitive species of human have the wherewithal to build boats and sail across the sea?
Many believe that the Hobbit stems from an earlier form of human called Homo erectus which arrived on the island around a million years ago and gradually became smaller over generations through living on an island, where there were scant food resources.
Others believe that its origins are from ape-like creatures which left Africa more than two million years ago. Critics even proposed that the creatures were the remains of seriously ill modern humans.
Image caption The sensational discovery was made in the Liang Bua cave in Flores Indonesia. Are further remains to be found?
Prof Roberts told BBC News that the team never seriously thought that they would stumble across a new species of human. The researchers had been looking for the ancestors of the first Aboriginal Australians. At that time, the question of when Australia was first settled by Homo sapiens was hotly contested.
So his reaction to discovering the diminutive partial skeleton, he said, was "a mix of utter puzzlement and extreme excitement".
The research team was convinced that the remains were clearly not those of a modern human - not even one with a medical condition.
"I was absolutely mystified. It wasn't the early modern human skeleton we'd been hoping to find, but what was it?
"Something completely new to science as it turned out - but that's the beauty of serendipity. And it also goes to show the value of keeping archaeology 'real' and carrying out excavations, rather than relying on gee-whizz technology and computer modelling to provide all the answers.
"If we'd not done any digging, the world would be none the wiser that this creature had ever inhabited this part of the planet."
More bones of H. floresiensis have been found, but no new skulls as yet. The same team that discovered the Hobbit is continuing excavations in the hope that they will find more clues. And there is still the possibility that there might be remains of similar creatures elsewhere in the region, according to Prof Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum in London.
Image caption Artist's impression of the Hobbit - a small brain but able to use stone tools. One of the big outstanding questions is how did they get to Flores?
"There is the possibility that the experiment that produced the Hobbit could have produced similar experiments on other islands in the region, in Sulawesi, the Philippines and Timor and are awaiting discovery.
The scientific priority now for the group is to build up a picture of how the species was distributed, when it first arrived on Flores and when and why it finally went extinct.
"There's still much for us to learn about the Hobbit", explains Prof Roberts. "How its eccentric anatomical features came to be so, and whether Hobbits ever encountered early modern humans dispersing across Asia and south to Australia. Which is why, 10 years down the Hobbit track, it still feels like the journey of discovery has only just begun". |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4620407.stm | Comedian Stephen Fry is in talks with the BBC about the possibility of writing an episode of Doctor Who.
The acclaimed author, director and actor may contribute to the series, which returns later this year with David Tennant as the next Time Lord.
A BBC spokeswoman said: "We are in talks with Stephen about the possibility of him writing an episode of Doctor Who."
There were no plans for Fry to appear in the series, the spokeswoman added.
Fry was among the actors touted as a possible Time Lord when plans to revive the series were announced in 2003.
In a poll carried out by BBC Worldwide, MPs chose him as the person they most wanted to become the Doctor.
Asked by Radio Times magazine about the possibility of him playing the lead character in 2003, Fry said: "All I can say is I've done a couple of dramatised Doctor Whos for radio and internet and it may be that more things emerge in the future."
If he does write an episode, he will be the latest comic to do so.
League of Gentlemen actor and comedian Mark Gatiss wrote an episode of the recent series, set in Victorian times and featuring an appearance by novelist Charles Dickens.
The BBC recently announced there would be a third series in the current run of the drama, written by Russell T Davies. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16920866 | Five killer whales have been named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit which argues they deserve the same constitutional protection from slavery as humans.
A US judge is considering a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (Peta) against SeaWorld.
It is reportedly the first time a US court has heard legal arguments over whether animals should enjoy the same constitutional protections as humans.
SeaWorld's legal team said the case was a waste of time and resources.
The marine park's lawyer, Theodore Shaw, told the court in San Diego: "Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the 'We the people'... when the Constitution was adopted."
He said that if the case were successful, it could have implications not just on how other marine parks or zoos operate, but even on the police use of sniffer dogs to detect bombs and drugs.
Peta says the killer whales are treated like slaves for being forced to live in tanks and perform daily at the SeaWorld parks in California and Florida.
It is not considered likely that the whales will win their freedom, but campaigners said they were pleased the case even made it to a courtroom.
The lawsuit invokes the 13th Amendment to the constitution, which abolished "slavery or involuntary servitude" in the US.
Jeffrey Kerr, the lawyer representing the five whales, said: "For the first time in our nation's history, a federal court heard arguments as to whether living, breathing, feeling beings have rights and can be enslaved simply because they happen to not have been born human.
"By any definition these orcas have been enslaved here."
Hearing the arguments for about an hour, US District Judge Jeffrey Miller raised concerns over whether animals could be represented as plaintiffs in a lawsuit.
He will issue a ruling at a later date.
Peta names the five wild-captured orca plaintiffs as Tilikum and Katina, at SeaWorld Orlando; and Kasatka, Corky, and Ulises, at SeaWorld San Diego.
It is not Tilikum's first time in the media spotlight - he drowned his trainer before horrified spectators in February 2010, prompting a ban on the Florida park's employees entering the water to perform tricks with the orcas.
The same whale has also been linked to two other deaths. |
Subsets and Splits